No Turning Back Now
by Boredone32
Summary: Zuko joins the Gaang in Ba Sing Se and faces many obstacles on the road to redemption. Will he find more than forgiveness while helping the Avatar save the world? What happens when he starts to develop feelings for a certain waterbender? Seq. discontinued
1. Prologue

**A/N: Welcome to my first fanfic ever. I don't know how long it will go, and seeing as I am new to this, any advice or constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. I am going to try to get the first three chapters (not counting this, being the very long prologue) by Friday, than update about once a week. Read, enjoy, and tell me what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Don't make money either.**

The eerie green glow of the crystals beneath Ba Sing Se made Zuko think that it was all a dream. It had to be a dream. Someone other than his mother or his uncle showing him compassion was simply impossible. Wasn't it? The cool feel of the waterbender's hand on his scar told him no. But how could she, of all people, care about him? Hadn't he chased her best friend across the earth, fought her personally numerous times, and even tied her to a tree? Yes, among other things.

And yet here she was, offering to heal the mark that the very man who sent Zuko to chase the avatar had given him. He knew he didn't deserve this. Even if he had, it seemed fate would still manage to get in his way. It always does, he thought bitterly. Every time something went even remotely his way, the universe saw fit to tear it all away from him. Every time.

But maybe this time was different.

Maybe he was different.

He wasn't the same Zuko that had tried so desperately to capture that elusive bald monk. He wasn't the same Zuko that had burned down the village of Kyoshi, or threatened women and children at the South Pole, or hired bounty hunters to track down a group of kids (one of which was still touching his face).

So who was he?

_Never forget who you are._

Had he ever even known? Maybe at one point, at a time where he stood up for what he believed in. Before he knew of all of the terrible loss and suffering that came with the war his forefathers had started. But not now.

He had no idea who he was anymore. He knew what he believed. That this war was wrong. That his mission was wrong. That his _father_ was wrong.

What he didn't know was whether he was willing to fight it. Was that what his mother had meant? Would she want him to betray his people to do the right thing?

Zuko didn't get a chance to reflect on this as a large explosion suddenly sounded from behind, breaking his train of thought.

"Aang!" The waterbender (Katara?) shouted. Much happier about it than he was, Zuko noted sadly. Then he saw his uncle, and was immediately put off.

"Uncle, what are you doing with him?" Zuko asked as he was tightly embraced by the man in question.

Whatever response his uncle had was cut off as the avatar himself answered the question. "Saving you, that's what!"

This made Zuko angry, which he subconsciously knew was very irrational. But Zuko ignored that as his uncle's outstretched hand prevented him from tearing the monk to shreds then and there.

"Nephew, it's time we had a talk," Iroh said, turning towards the avatar and the waterbender: "go find your friends; we'll catch up with you."

Zuko couldn't help but notice the girl's apologetic, almost hopeful, look back at him as she walked away; disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel leading back into the world above.

"Why uncle?" Zuko asked, still in a bit of shock from what had just transpired.

"Zuko, you are not the man you used to be. You are stronger, wiser, and freer than you have ever been. And now you have reached the crossroads of your destiny."

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Aang and Katara were in their fighting stances, seemingly in a stare-off with the fire princess. It was as if no one was willing to risk making the first move, as though that was the surest way to lose this fight.

Azula knew she was at least close to being outmatched. She wasn't stupid, far from it actually. She knew that both of the benders in front of her were skilled, and the nearby underground river was no help to her. Of course, Azula was always one step ahead. She knew that if she could just stall long enough, the Dai Li would allow her to easily overwhelm and capture the avatar.

The tension was suddenly broken when a large fireball hit the floor in the middle of the three benders. They looked to see Zuko, now sleeveless, in a fighting stance a few yards away. His eyes darted back and forth between his sister and the avatar, and after a quick glance at Katara, he struck.

Azula was caught off guard so badly she almost didn't move in time. Almost. With a swift backward flip she shot blue fire at Aang, who quickly put up a rock wall in defense. Zuko and Katara attacked Azula simultaneously, Katara with her trusty water whip and Zuko with a low kick that shot fire in an arc just inches above the ground.

Azula spun a wall of fire that dissipated Zuko's and dissolved Katara's water. She was knocked back hard by a human shaped gust of wind that sent her crashing back into some of the crystals. Her opponents surrounded her, ready to strike. Suddenly, a large explosion sounded off to Azula's left. She smirked as the Dai Li agents came pouring out.

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Zuko was now surrounded by close to a dozen Dai Li. Katara faced the same number, octopus stance at the ready. Aang was faced with twice as many and an angry fire princess added on. The situation looked bad, to be overly optimistic. Aang could only think of one solution. It was let go of the girl he loved, or lose her forever. He bent himself into a crystal shell.

He wouldn't remember anything for another two weeks.

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Katara couldn't believe what she had just seen. One moment it was avatar state to the rescue and everything was gonna work out, and the next, Aang was plummeting to earth. She didn't think about what she was doing, she just reacted. She caught Aang before he hit the ground and looked up to see Zuko, back turned, preparing to take on nearly fifty Dai Li agents.

If it wasn't for Iroh arriving just in time, they probably wouldn't have made it out at all. As it was, she was racing next to Zuko who was carrying the unconscious, or gods forbid worse, Aang. She was too distraught to even realize that she was trusting Zuko so much already. They quickly found Sokka, Toph, Kuei, and Bosco and took off on Appa.

Katara pulled out the flask of spirit water and tried to heal Aang. At first there was no luck, and she thought he would surely die. But then, he opened his eyes, gave a slight, pained smile, and drifted back into unconsciousness.

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Zuko noticed Katara using the spirit water on Aang and couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. It's not like he would rather have his scar healed and the boy dead, but it still stung just a little bit. No one had acknowledged him at all yet (they were too distracted by the whole hero of the world dying thing), which was completely fine with him. He really needed to think and was sure that being scrutinized by the water tribe boy wouldn't help much.

He looked off to the side and began to reflect on what had happened. Had he made the right choice? His mind screamed no but his heart said yes. He normally ignored what his heart said (that meant emotions were involved and that meant weakness) but couldn't help but feel a surge of pride at finally doing the right thing for once. _Actually, I guess that's two in a row,_ he thought. He felt good about himself despite the absolute beating he had just received at the hands of his sister and her new minions. That was definitely weird. Zuko was almost always angry, especially after failing so epically. But not since he got sick, and still not now. Maybe he had changed more than he previously thought.

But still, what if he had joined Azula? Would he be getting ready to go back to the Fire Nation right now? Would he be accepted by his father again, after all these years? Guess that doesn't matter now, he thought. Zuko was never one to dwell on the past, mostly because the past was so filled with hurt for him. It only caused him pain every time he looked back, so he bottled it up and moved on. Simplest solution of them all.

Unfortunately everyone was still silent, and Zuko's mind kept drifting back and asking: what if?

Meanwhile, everyone else was thinking things through as well. Kuei was pondering how exactly he could have been so badly fooled for so long. Sokka was planning what they would do next, where they would go, who they would meet, and what they would do about the invasion. Toph was reflecting on what she had "seen" before the gaang had hurriedly left on Appa, as well as how she would hone her new skill of metal bending and make that Fire Nation brat pay for what she had done.

Katara was trying to just stop thinking. Every time she thought it would be about Aang, and how close he was to dying. Or about how long it would take him to recover. How long would it take for her to recover? She had tried to distract her thoughts earlier by thinking about Zuko.

She had decided that he must have changed and that he must be on their side now, seeing as he had almost been killed helping them escape and still hadn't made a violent move towards anyone. Or any move at all for that matter. She figured he could be Aang's firebending master, but still had a ways to go to make up for everything. Then she thought back to their time underneath Ba Sing Se. She sort of felt bad that she would no longer be able to remove his scar, but figured Aang's life was higher up on her priority list.

She thought about what he had said about his mother, how he had understood her pain and even sort of comforted her a little bit when she opened up to him. And that's where the thoughts got a bit out of hand. She began thinking that she had felt a strange connection to Zuko, almost like, like... well she couldn't describe it to herself. It was a bit like her thing with Jet, but at the same time way different and it scared her. She wrote the whole thing off as shock and decided that she really didn't want to think about Zuko anymore.

Finally she couldn't take the silence. She asked, voice shaky, to no one and to everyone "what do we do now?"

And even though they had all been thinking about it quite a bit, even Sokka, the plan guy, had no idea how to answer her question.

Whatever they did though, Ba Sing Se had fallen, and there was no turning back now, not for any of them.

**A/N: I know this is short and choppy, but we all know how Crossroads went, this was only meant to fill in the differences. Hate it? Love it? Should I stop now and save us all the trouble? Help me out! Thanks.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Chapter 1! It's a bit on the dark side, but Aang almost died last chapter. He'll be back in chapter 2 and it will begin to get interesting in chapter 3. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing. *sigh***

He woke with a start as the sky bison suddenly lurched after an unusually loud lightning strike. _Great,_ he thought sarcastically, _another three hours of trying to fall asleep._ Zuko sighed. It wasn't as though he was afraid of heights, or that he was too wet or cold too sleep. No, it was probably a combination of confusion, worry, doubt, hope, and distrust.

He was confused as to what he wanted to do with his life from here on out. Confused as to why the waterbender, Katara, would accept him so easily. He was worried that the bison would give in to exhaustion and fall asleep, resulting in a very long fall to all of their deaths. He doubted that he had made the right choice, or the best choice, and doubting his ability to do so in the future. He was hopeful that everything would work out and that he and his newfound allies could actually succeed in their daunting task to save the world from his own father. And he was distrustful of the Water Tribe boy, Sokka, who had seemed to think that throwing Zuko off of the sky bison was the greatest idea since bending itself.

He knew of the other boy's obsession with sending the prince to his untimely death some thousand feet below from earlier on. Sokka had finally realized that Appa was carrying an extra passenger, and that said passenger happened to be the "angry jerk", right after realizing that they had been travelling the wrong way for the past two hours. The ensuing argument between the Water Tribe siblings was a welcome distraction for Zuko, who was trying to avoid thinking about his decision and its significance to the rest of his life.

The argument was ended when the young earthbender, Toph, had interrupted. Zuko actually had to fight back a smile after seeing the water-warrior's face when Toph had yelled "SHUT UP! The two of you sound like a married couple," (here both siblings' faces contorted in anger,) "fighting over what's for dinner. It doesn't matter, he's here at least until we land, which won't be for quite some time thanks to Snoozle's small-sized brain."

_Snoozles,_ Zuko had thought_, fits him well, and I'd say miniature brain, but same idea._ Nobody dared to respond to the twelve-year-old girls rant, but Zuko could have sworn he heard Sokka muttering something about "hot-headed angry jerks", "overly trusting sisters", and "very average sized brains".

Zuko spent the next three hours trying to get some sleep, but kept switching between thinking until his head hurt and concentrating on staying dry through the heavy downpour. Sokka had fallen asleep within ten minutes and proceeded to out-snore his uncle. That was an incredibly impressive feat, but Sokka seemed to be able to double the amount of sound the retired general could produce with no effort at all. Zuko had finally drifted off for about fifteen minutes when the sky bison jerked hard to its left, causing the exiled prince to hold on to the animal's fur for dear life. No one else even noticed the turn.

Zuko sighed, tired and defeated, and turned to stare at the ocean below him. He was having a pleasant dream about him and his uncle running a tea shop when... Wait. UNCLE! Iroh had stayed back to allow the two teenagers to escape with the unconscious avatar and the old man must have been captured by Azula. The thought made Zuko's temper flare, and his knuckles turned white from gripping the bison's wet fur so tightly. _She had better not do anything to him,_ Zuko thought angrily, _she wouldn't dare._

Katara must have noticed Zuko's suddenly tense appearance (and apparently she hadn't been asleep) because she turned to him with a look of concern etched on her face. "Are you alright, Zuko?"

He barely even registered the question before automatically responding. "It's nothing, I'm fine," he said without even turning to face her. Why would she care about how he felt, when her best friend had almost died in her arms a few hours ago?

Katara could easily tell that Zuko was lying, heck; Sokka could have seen that something was troubling the prince, but she decided not to press him just yet. She didn't know Zuko well enough to try and comfort him like she did with everyone else in the gaang. She simply said, "If you want to talk about it, I'll probably still be awake."

Zuko sensed that something was bothering the girl as well, but he already knew what it was. "Is the av- uh... I mean Aang, gonna be alright?" He had tried to sound genuinely concerned, but emotions were never his thing and he was tired, so it probably came across as bitter and uncaring.

Katara saw that Zuko was now facing her and tried to hide the tears (not that the rain didn't do a good job of it) that fell when she told him she didn't know. "He's alive and his breathing is fairly normal, so I think he's gonna make it," she said, uncertainty and worry clear in her voice. She couldn't bear to lose someone else she cared about to this war, the thought alone made her even more depressed.

"I'm sure he'll pull through, the kid always seems to have luck on his side," came Zuko's confident reply. It was completely true too, so Katara ignored Zuko's use of "the kid" to describe her best friend. Of course, it made her realize that Aang really was still a kid, and that maybe the world was asking way too much of the twelve year old boy.

Zuko seemed to read her mind, saying "he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he's not even a teenager yet."

"Yeah, he does, but I believe in him. He's the avatar," she said, now staring into Zuko's deep golden eyes, "he's destined to save the world."

_Destiny is a funny thing,_ Zuko thought, but simply agreed and turned back to his thoughts, as did Katara. Silence reigned for the remainder of the flight to Chameleon Bay.

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Katara had worked her way into a good mood so that by the time she saw her dad again, after more than two years, she actually cried tears of joy as she was embraced by her only remaining parent. "Where is all of the food?" _Typical._ Apparently all Sokka had worked up was an appetite.

Hakoda laughed and told Sokka to head toward a tent on the far right of camp, clapping his son on the back as Sokka sprinted off to calm his black hole of a stomach. "I see he got his appetite from his old man," the southern chief stated proudly, wearing a smile of immense happiness caused by his children's presences. His smile quickly vanished as he noticed Katara's grief-stricken look and the avatar lying motionless on the giant bison's back. He also noticed a large platypus-bear-like creature (Bosco) nearby, but that seemed very unimportant when compared to Aang's current state.

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As Katara began to tell her father about everything that had happened, Zuko snuck off completely unnoticed in the opposite direction. Or so he thought. Zuko needed to be alone for a while; he was still debating whether he would stay with the avatar and his group or if he would go on a mission (probably a suicidal one) to rescue his uncle. Toph sat down three feet away and stared blankly down toward the sand. _How did she see me walk over here,_ Zuko wondered. He chose to ignore the girl in hopes that she would go away.

Several long minutes later Zuko finally addressed the earthbender. "What have you been looking at this whole time?" She hadn't moved at all since she had sat down, just stared down into the muddy sand below her.

Toph laughed loudly and obnoxiously, and Zuko couldn't think of how his words were even remotely funny. Just as he was about to get up and leave, the girl responded. "Nothing, nothing at all... I'm blind." At this she turned her sightless eyes toward Zuko, who stared at her in a look of utter shock. _How did she bend without being able to see? How did she know where he was? There is no way she is actually blind._ As if she had read his mind, Toph began explaining her way of "seeing" things.

"I use the vibrations in the earth to sense where things are. It's more like feeling than seeing really, but whatever."

"That's... really amazing," Zuko responded, still in a bit of shock and now feeling bad about his unnecessarily rude question.

"Well, I am the greatest earthbender the world has ever seen, so y'know." This earned a scoff from the firebender beside her. He wasn't being rude; he just found it hard to believe that a twelve-year-old blind girl was the best earthbender ever.

"It's true; I'm so good that I can even bend metal."

"That's not even possible, metal isn't bendable." Zuko knew she was lying, she had to be.

"Yes it is, it's just really refined earth. I use my bending to lock on to pieces of earth inside the metal and move those, which bends the metal as well." This made sense, kind of, but Zuko still didn't believe her. After he voiced this, Toph decided to prove it by warping his broadswords into the same shape as Sokka's boomerang.

"What did you just do to my swords?" Zuko was furious. Those were his swords! Okay, he had stolen them, but still.

"Relax Sparky, I'll fix it." Toph was really enjoying bugging the prince. He was almost as easy as Sokka. But nobody was quite as east as Sokka. After reshaping Zuko's swords, Toph continued. "I told you I'm the best."

"At least you're humble," Zuko muttered, but quickly added, "You are pretty good. I guess you would have to be for your parents to let you join the avatar." _Wait, Sparky?_

"They didn't, I ran away. They were insanely overprotective of me because I was blind, I couldn't even leave the house. I sometimes wonder if they were ashamed of me. Trying to hide me away from the world, y'know?" Parents ashamed of you? Yeah, Zuko knew that feeling.

"My father banished me because he was ashamed of me," Zuko pointedly left out any details, and turned his gaze toward the Water Tribe camp, looking to see all of the men huddled around the avatar and Katara. "I guess you just have to be the best you can be, don't try to prove yourself to anyone else. Trust me, it doesn't turn out well."

"Yeah, but they're my parents. Why can't they accept me for who I am?"

"I don't know the answer to that. All I know is that Aang, Sokka, and Katara all accept you, and you don't seem too bad to me either. Maybe your parents just didn't ever get to see the real you." Even as he was saying it, Zuko began to wonder where all of this advice was coming from. He spent way too much time with Iroh. _Oh gods, uncle_, he thought, immediately back to his sulky self.

Toph laughed a bit and got up to leave. She turned and began to walk away before stopping abruptly to say one last thing to her new confidant. "I think you might be right... thanks. You and your uncle are a lot alike... And don't worry too much; I'm sure he will be alright. He's pretty tough for an old guy."

Zuko briefly wondered how she even knew his uncle as she walked toward the Water Tribe camp. He shrugged it off and turned back toward the ocean to think. He didn't get the chance as the sound of footsteps approached and Katara now joined him on the sandy ground.

"I talked everybody into believing that you're on our side now and that you are going to teach Aang firebending. You can come into the camp if you want, no one will attack you or anything."

"Thank you," Zuko replied in a melancholy tone that told Katara he was worried about something. Before she could ask what it was however, she spotted the silhouette of a fire navy ship that was headed their way. Zuko saw it too and began to stand up.

"I'll go warn the others," Katara said as she took off toward the camp. Zuko followed after her, but walked back to give him a bit of time to think about what exactly he would say.

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"We should evacuate the area, Ba Sing Se has already fallen, there's no point in guarding the bay anymore."

"And where exactly would we go? The Fire Nation will be swarming around this place like crazy. We have nowhere to go. I say we stand and fight!"

"There will be hundreds of ships coming through here in the next few weeks; we can't possibly fight off that many."

"And if we try to escape the Fire Nation will notice and capture us. We can't sail our ships out of here."

"Then the answer is fairly obvious." All of the Water Tribesmen's eyes shifted to the scarred prince who had just arrived at camp. Most looked on with distrust, some with open, and obvious, hatred. "Capture a fire navy ship so that you can leave safely and without drawing attention to yourselves."

"And how exactly would we go about capturing a fire navy ship? All of our weapons that could stop a ship cause severe damage that would not allow the ship to continue moving." Hakoda finally spoke up, having been silently thinking on the matter while his men argued. The Fire Prince didn't seem shaken at all; his confidence ever present in that annoying smirk that Hakoda could tell graced the young man's face quite often.

"Not exactly, sir. Your daughter is a very powerful waterbender, and in this weather, I would bet she could freeze the ship in place." Zuko seemed very pleased, with his idea as well as over-confident; there were far too many holes.

"She couldn't stop the ship without at least causing severe damage to the hull, and we don't have enough metal to repair the whole thing." So much for that plan, Hakoda thought, but the Fire Prince remained undeterred.

"Not a problem, any amount of small damage to the ship can easily be repaired by the little metal-bender over there. Isn't that right, Toph?" Zuko replied, earning the small earthbender a lot of questioning looks.

"Consider it taken care of, Sparky." Toph knew the Sparky thing annoyed Zuko, but he ignored it for the time being. Instead he turned toward the landscape, checked narrow passageway of water, and turned back toward the Water Tribe men.

"Here's the plan."

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Everything was set up. The men were lying in wait, hidden away, ready to take on the unsuspecting fire navy crew. They were surprisingly well concealed considering that they were so close to the shoreline, but they managed nonetheless. Katara was mentally preparing herself, it was almost a full moon and the middle of night, so she had confidence in her ability to stop the ship, and she just had to try to cause as little damage as possible. Zuko was stationed a ways away, ready for some long distance fire defense. He would block the men from being burnt to ashes by any firebenders on board the ship. Toph waited with Aang (still unconscious) on Appa, bored out of her mind.

Zuko knew that this wouldn't be pretty. There was no way people weren't going to get hurt. In fact he doubted that everyone would survive, but as long as his allies were safe, the rest were the unfortunate side effects of war.

The ship was nearing closer and Katara began to guide it closer to the shore away from her, that's where the Water Tribe men were waiting. No one would notice the ship was veering off course until the ship was already frozen. She took a deep breath. It was time to get to work.

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Hakoda couldn't believe it. Not only had the Fire Prince's plan worked, but nobody on their side had even been injured badly. All of the minor injuries they sustained were promptly healed by Katara, and everyone was as good as new. Zuko himself had saved the lives of at least two men, blocking fireballs with impeccable precision. The boy had gone a long way to earn Hakoda's trust in a short amount of time, but he was still very skeptical of the young prince. His daughter would not back down when it came to Zuko travelling with them, so he reluctantly agreed. He saw the boy sitting on the deck of the captured vessel, and decided to approach him.

"You're up awfully late, you should probably sleep. Sokka said you had a tough time on Appa." Hakoda smirked at this; Sokka had described the ever-confident and controlled firebender as "scared like a baby facing a tiger-seal".

"I can't sleep." The prince seemed distant, as though he were completely lost in his own world. "I'm worried about my uncle. He was captured by Azula while Katara and I escaped."

Hakoda could sense the fear in the young man's voice, not sure whether the memory brought it on or the fear of his uncle being in the hands of a psychopathic pyromaniac. He assumed it was the latter and said "I am sure that your uncle will be alright. He sounds like quite a resilient general." Yes, Hakoda knew of the conquests of the Dragon of the West, who didn't?

"I just can't help but feel like I should be trying to rescue him. He would do anything for me, and I'm not even trying." Zuko sounded truly pained by this thought, as though not throwing away his life in a vain attempt to free his uncle was a major betrayal.

"You are needed here, and your uncle clearly wanted you to be here. He's going to be fine, you need to concentrate on the task ahead of you, even though it's not what you feel is most important."

"I know that helping Aang is more important, I just feel so helpless, but I guess you're right. Dwelling on it sure won't help anyone. I need to focus. Uncle will be ok; Aang needs my help a lot more." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything but Hakoda nodded in agreement anyway. He was really starting to respect this kid, but he still had a long way to go before he earned Hakoda's trust.

"I'm going to go to bed. Thank you for the advice; it is an honor to be fighting side by side with you Hakoda." Zuko than outstretched his right arm, which Hakoda firmly grabbed and shook warrior style. He was impressed by the confidence and leadership the fire prince displayed, but he would never admit it to anyone. He watched the firebender walk away as his thoughts drifted once again toward his children. How much they had grown, matured, and learned made him both proud and sad at the same time. He wished he could have been there with them through everything, but that was not how things worked out. He wondered what life would be like after the war long into the night, staring out toward the horizon; dreaming of his kids, his home, and his wife.

He would make sure that his grandkids never had to experience the atrocities that this war brought with it. They would grow up with both of their parents and live happy, peaceful lives. Somehow he knew that the five children sleeping below deck would be a major part in making that dream a reality.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N: alright, here is chapter 2. Aang's back and we are getting close to the main story... Finally. I hope you guys like it!**

Disclaimer: Still not owning anything, except my little brother at some horse.

Pain.

That was all he could feel.

Aang's mind was reeling as he tried to remember what had caused all of the pain he was feeling. It was everywhere. His head, his chest, his arms, his legs and his back were in the most excruciating pain the airbender had felt in his entire life. Especially his back. He remembered leaving the Eastern Air Temple early to save Katara, finding her with Zuko and then confronting Azula.

Azula!

Aang shot up (which his aching muscles protested furiously) and took in his surroundings. Red. Everything was red. There were fire nation insignias everywhere, the room was made entirely of metal and he could hear the ocean waves crashing somewhere below him. _Oh no,_ he thought, _I must have been captured by Azula. She's probably taking me to the fire nation already. What happened to Sokka? Or Toph? Or Momo or Appa or... Katara?_

At the thought of Katara, Aang began to head for the door. He noticed that his staff was standing up, leaning on the wall, right next to it. _That's odd, why would they leave my staff in my room?_ he grabbed it and pushed on the door. He was completely surprised when the door creaked open, and he looked down the hall to see two fire nation guards talking a few yards away. "Hey, he's awake!"

Aang thought that the guard's voice sounded eerily familiar, but ignored it and took off I'm the opposite direction as fast as his battered body would allow. He reached the deck and saw Zuko, looking at him with a slightly confused and... relieved expression? Aang didn't think on it much and instead decided to send the banished prince flying into the side of the ship.

Aang opened his glider to fly away when he was hugged tightly by Katara, who had tears in her eyes and was wearing a fire nation soldier's outfit. "Aang, you're awake! I'm so glad you're okay!"

Alright, now Aang was confused. They were definitely on a fire nation ship, but Katara was definitely walking around freely, as was Aang himself. This meant that Aang was definitely... completely and utterly lost. "What's going on? Where are we? Why are we on a fire nation ship?"

Zuko answered in a tone that clearly said Aang's earlier attack was totally uncalled for. "We are heading toward the fire nation to prepare for the invasion. We captured this ship so that we could travel without being detected. And you just dislocated my shoulder."

"Quit being such a princess, Sparky. Glad to have you back, Twinkletoes." Toph was also wearing a soldier's uniform, as was Sokka. Both embraced their still in shock friend. Aang ran a hand through his hair, wondering just how long he had been out. _Wait, hair?_

"We've been really worried about you, you've been unconscious for two weeks now," Katara started. "We caught up with my dad and the rest of the-"

Katara was cut off by a sickening _thud!_ They turned to see Zuko wincing as Sokka held his newly relocated shoulder. "There you go buddy, all fixed!" Sokka was grinning from ear to ear after having hurt the prince _with_ a legitimate excuse.

"Gee, thanks," Zuko responded in the most sarcastic voice he could possibly muster. Hakoda approached and told them that another ship was approaching and that he and Bato would take care of it. Zuko stayed because he knew fire nation soldiers, and because he refused to be grouped with the "kids"

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Two men boarded the gaang's captured vessel, and Zuko was deciding between two possible ways to handle the situation. One was to hope that the people coming aboard were very unimportant and intimidate them into running away and apologizing for boarding the ship without his permission. Of course, if one of them was important, they would realize that Zuko was bluffing and know immediately that something was up. The second option was to simply cooperate and risk unintentionally giving them away by saying something incorrect.

He went with the first plan.

"Who exactly do you think you are, wasting our time by stopping our ship? We are on direct orders to get to the fire nation as fast as possible." Zuko tried to sound as confident and imposing as he could, but he didn't know whether the two men had bought it.

"That's odd, I don't remember giving any such orders." _Damn!_ "Who exactly ordered you, I am in charge of all of the ships around here."

"We were given orders from princess Azula herself, sir. Please accept my sincerest apologies for my disrespect." Zuko hoped that the admiral (Zuko figured he was Zhao's replacement) would buy the kiss-up attempt.

"Very well, I'll leave you then." He did. _Thank Agni,_ Zuko thought. He watched the man leave and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"They know!" Toph's voice rang out as she sent the two men falling into the water below by bending the gangplank (A/N I think that's what it's called?) off of the two ships.

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Sokka had just finished explaining everything to Aang when the fighting had broke out. The world thought that Aang had fallen along with the Earth Kingdom capital, which was supposedly a good thing. Something about the element of surprise, which Aang didn't think was a good enough reason for people to lose all of their hope. The plan was for the gaang plus Zuko (assuming Aang was okay with him as a firebending teacher) to split off and travel through the fire nation on Appa. While they gathered information and trained Aang, Hakoda and the others would travel around and seek out whatever support they could find. Aang was to stay hidden from the world until the invasion so that Ozai would have no idea that he would be facing the avatar.

As soon as Toph had yelled, the enemy hip began to load the catapults. Katara quickly bent as much steam as she possibly could into the air to give them some cover, hoping that the enemy would have no idea where to aim.

Sokka held Aang back when he attempted to join the fray. "You're still injured; we'll take care of this. Stay hidden, we can't let the Fire Nation know you're still alive." Sokka took off to aid the others in their escape. Aang sighed and sat back, hoping that his friends would be alright without his help.

The cover Katara had provided was fading fast and the opposing ship was still far too close for comfort. Katara had begun to bend the ship faster forward to try and gain some ground on their pursuers. As they came out of the foggy cover, Zuko noticed a flaming ball of rock headed straight for the ship. He shot as much fire as he could at the projectile and was able to deflect it off of its course just enough to miss the ship.

He squinted as he tried in vain to see into the mist, but could barely make out the silhouette of the other vessel. His eyes widened as he saw another catapult shot heading toward them. He was about to try to deflect it again when a large sea serpent suddenly rose from the waters below. It was staring the prince directly in the eye, a look of malevolent ferocity on its over-sized face. Its expression changed to one of pain and surprise as the stray shot hit it from behind.

The beast dove underwater only to return moments later to wrap itself around the opposing ship. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as both the sea creature and the enemy ship faded from view. _That was insanely lucky,_ Zuko thought as soon as he was sure that they were no longer in danger.

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They had finally reached the port where the two groups would split up. Sokka, Toph and Katara had gone into town to get supplies for the journey; (Aang and Zuko were too recognizable) leaving Aang and Zuko to talk about things.

_Well this is awkward,_ Zuko thought as he and the monk sat down in Aang's room. _What am I supposed to say? Hey, so, sorry about the whole trying to kill you repeatedly thing. Now I want to travel with you guys to help fight my people and my father, but you don't have to worry. I promise I won't kill you in your sleep or anything, alright?_ For some reason Zuko couldn't see that working too well.

Luckily, Aang broke the silence. "Sooo... I guess you're, like, good now?" Yep, definitely awkward.

"Um, yeah. Pretty much. I mean yes. Completely. Not pretty much, I'm totally good now." _Wow, I feel stupider than Sokka._ Aang laughed.

"Good. I think we can be good friends, and I'm sure you'll be a great teacher." Wait, WHAT? There's no way it was that easy. Aang was just going to forgive him, just like that? He hadn't even apologized yet.

"I hope so... Thanks for giving me another chance. And, um... Sorry about, y'know... Everything." _That was pathetic._

"Haha, yeah well, everyone deserves a second chance right? Plus, you helped us fight Azula, so you kind of proved that you were on our side."

Zuko decided not to mention the fact that he would fight with anyone against his sister, figuring that it wouldn't help him much. "I'll do my best to help you end this war. I won't let you down." At this Aang showed Zuko a huge smile, and the prince couldn't help but return the gesture (it was more like a quarter-smile, but that's the best anyone got out of Zuko).

"Good, I haven't quite got earthbending down yet, so as soon as I finish that, we can start with the basics. Of course, only if that works for you, Sifu Hotman." Aang thought he would impress Zuko with his knowledge of Fire Nation culture by throwing in the latest slang.

Zuko laughed. Actually laughed. He laughed hard, and for a long time, and Aang soon found himself laughing along with a joke he really didn't get. "What's so funny?"

Zuko was practically in tears when he finally responded. "Did you just call me Sifu Hotman?" Aang nodded, still utterly lost. "No one has said hotman for close to seventy years. I bet you greet people with 'Flameo' too."

Zuko broke down laughing when Aang stayed silent and blushed, looking down at the floor. When the firebender recovered, he saw the monk looking at him with an odd expression. "What are you looking at?"

"You're laughing," was the boy's reply.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"No, I just didn't think it was possible."

"Yeah, I don't blame you. I haven't laughed like that since this one time when my cousin and I went to the beach with my uncle. We spent all day making sandcastles to fight. My cousin and I were gonna take on my uncle, and right as we were about to start, the tide came in. A wave took out our entire castle, and uncle was practically crying because he was laughing so hard. Then a bigger wave hit him, and he ended up face first in the sand with most of his castle in his shorts. He got up with a starfish-snail stuck to his face. It was hilarious."

"What happened to him?"

"I don't know, Azula probably has him."

"I'm sorry." Aang could tell how worried Zuko was about his beloved uncle, even if he refused to admit it.

"It's not your fault. Besides he'll be fine. I think I'm going to go meditate, clear my head a little bit. I'll see you later, Aang."

"Yeah, see ya, Zuko." Aang had a lot to think about as well. He watched his newfound ally (and maybe friend?) leave. He was surprised that Zuko had opened up to him. Aang decided to think about that later on. He needed to address the whole world-thinking-he's-dead issue.

Aang didn't want to hide who he was. He wanted the world to know that he was alive. That there was still hope. That he hadn't failed. Of course, he _had_ failed. He was right there when Ba Sing Se fell, and he hadn't been able to stop it. He needed to fix it. He needed to redeem himself. He wouldn't hide out, wouldn't stay dead to the world. He was the _avatar._ It was his job to save the world, and he was going to do it. Looking into his mirror, he made up his mind. He picked up his blade and shaved his short black hair off completely, fully revealing his airbending tattoos.

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Katara was furious. No, she was beyond furious; she was about two seconds away from strangling her moronic excuse for a brother. She had left him in charge of food while she and Toph went off to find disguises that would allow them all to blend in. When she found her brother, he had spent almost all of their food money. Everything he had bought was, of course, meat.

"Sokka! Where are all the fruits and other things, all you have is meat!"

"All we need is meat! Meat is the best thing ever," came Sokka's idiotic reply.

"You're the only one who could live off meat alone, and Aang doesn't eat meat at all."

She had taken another hour of intense haggling to get all of the necessary food items they would need for their journey. She was just now returning to the ship. Sokka was carrying dinner for Zuko and Aang because the two had stayed behind and had likely not eaten. After loading everything onto Appa and ordering Sokka to take Zuko his dinner, the waterbender headed toward Aang's room. She wanted to work on his back again before she went to bed. She also wanted to be sure that he would be good enough to travel the next morning.

She opened the door to Aang's room and found it completely empty.

**A/N: I was re-reading this whole thing and I noticed that I rip on Sokka a lot. I absolutely love his character, but he is such an easy target. Also, I know this is short, so I will try to post chapter three today as well. Anyway, I hope you guys liked chapter 2!**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N: Here it is, chapter 3. Finally some plot! It is really short and I'm not sure I like it. I might edit it later on, I don't know yet. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I registered for school today, if I owned anything, I wouldn't be in school cause I'd be rich. School it is!

Katara sprinted to Zuko's room, immediately blaming the Fire Prince for Aang's disappearance. _How could I have trusted him so easily? I'm going to kill him if he does anything to Aang._

She tore the door open to find Zuko and Sokka talking about Zuko's broadswords. "Where is Aang," the waterbender practically snarled at Zuko.

"Uh, I don't know. In his room maybe?"

"Seriously Katara, what are you talking about?" Sokka looked at her like she was going insane, but she ignored him. She had more important things to deal with.

"I've searched the whole ship, and I can't find Aang anywhere. I thought maybe Zuko had done something." she turned and glared at the prince. "Why weren't you with him, you let him leave!"

"Hey, don't blame me. I'm not his babysitter and I'm sure he just went for a quick walk. He's the avatar, he'll be fine." Zuko and Sokka turned back to the broadswords and Katara promptly dragged them out of the room.

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The group had split up to cover more ground to find Aang as quickly as possible. Zuko had gone with Toph and Katara had gone with Sokka. Zuko was in a bad mood after being accused of still trying to hurt Aang (not that he could blame them but still) and Toph had put up with the prince's attitude for almost an hour now, which was long enough.

"Would you just suck it up already? Sugar Queen is always crazy when it comes to Twinkletoes. She trusts you a lot more than most of us."

"Gee, thanks," Zuko replied with enough sarcasm to steal Sokka's title as reigning champ. "It's good to know that nobody trusts me."

"I trust you. I mean, you've never done anything to me, Sparky." Toph punched Zuko in the arm, as if the action proved her point.

"Okay, seriously, what's with the nicknames? Sugar Queen, Snoozles, Sparky? What's your nickname?" Zuko was putting his money on something like rockhead. Not that he had any actual money.

"I don't have a nickname, I just dish them out. Sokka tries, but he is completely terrible at it." Jerkbender was really not very creative.

"I guess you're right, I just need to give everything time to set in." _Too bad patience is one of my major weak points, Zuko_ thought. "I'm sure we will all get along eventually, don't you think, _**Shrimp**_?"

"What did you jus-" Toph was cut off as Zuko closed his hand over her mouth. Two men were talking about a prisoner a few feet away.

"I hear that the Firelord is going to execute him for treason."

"Who would've thought that The Dragon of the West would fall so far?" _No, uncle..._

"Yeah, it's a shame. There is going to be a public execution for him and some Earth Kingdom leader in two weeks. The leader is a woman, from what I hear."

The voices began to fade as the men walked away, not that Zuko or Toph were listening anymore. They were close to the time limit anyway, so they headed back to the ship in a shocked silence. Hopefully Sokka and Katara would have some better news than they did.

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Katara had been searching the nearby woods frantically for any sign of her missing friend for the past hour. When she stumbled across a slightly burnt piece of the monk's clothing, she began to fear that he had been captured... Or worse. She was so relieved to find him unhurt that she didn't even notice that he was crying. She sprinted into the clear and slid into him, hugging him as tightly as she possibly could.

"Aang! I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried about you! I-" Tears were streaming down her face as she noticed that Aang was crying as well. Her eyes widened as she scanned his body for any prominent injuries. After she saw none, she asked, "Aang are you okay? What's wrong, are you hurt?" She was in full-blown mother mode at this point.

"I'm not okay, Katara. You guys expect me to hide away, but I just can't live like that. I refuse to go out at all if I can't wear my arrow proudly."

"Aang, I know this must be hard for you, but it's for the good of the world. It's only until the invasion anyway, just don't let any soldiers see you." Katara noticed that as she said this, Aang looked down; as if he was ashamed of something.

"Um... Yeah about that, I uh, was sort-of seen. By some Fire Nation soldiers." Aang had thought that him being alive was good for the world, why did his friends want him to hide away? Did they not believe that he was good enough to do this without the element of surprise? He already had four elements on his side, what was so great about surprise? Even with this in mind, he knew that Katara would be disappointed in him, which made the tears begin to flow yet again.

"It's alright, Aang. We'll get through this together. All of us. We are all here to support you, you know that. C'mon. You need to get some rest so we can leave tomorrow. Let the Firelord know you're alive, it won't matter. And I _do_ believe in you, Aang. I always have."

Katara had always known how to comfort him. It was one of the reasons he was in love with her. ...Wait. If he was in love with her still, did that mean that the avatar state was still locked? Maybe he really did need surprise on his side. This was not good.

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Sokka and Katara returned to the ship to see Zuko and Toph waiting for them. Toph was yelling at Zuko for something. Sokka became hungry upon hearing the word shrimp, but the rest of the conversation was lost on him. He and Katara took Aang to his room. Sokka set the twelve year old down, and Aang was asleep before his head hit the pillow. Katara then checked to make sure that Aang would be alright. Once she had tripled checked and was one-hundred percent sure that everything was fine, the siblings walked back outside.

Zuko seemed very sullen and determined while Toph looked angry. _This can't be good,_ Katara thought as she approached the two. "Hey guys, we have a small problem." They waited for her to continue, but Sokka finished for her.

"Aang was seen by some Fire Nation soldiers. They know he survived and chances are that we will have that crazy lightning chick following us around yet again. Also, they know about the invasion." Katara looked at him in shock. He continued, "Dad and I talked to the Earth King. Apparently he told the 'Kyoshi Warriors' about the invasion plan, so Azula knows. This basically means that we will be invading the Land of the Jerks- no offense Zuko- without any surprise on our side at all."

"So in other words, we are basically screwed? Oh and how was I not supposed to be offended by any of that?" Zuko sounded like Angry Zuko again, but at least he had a good reason now.

"Yeah, that's basically it and I actually enjoy offending you, I was trying to be nice." Sokka now sounded depressed, and even Katara couldn't be too hopeful about the situation.

"So, what do we do? We could attack anyway; the eclipse is a huge advantage... Right?" The waterbender tried to imagine them actually winning against the current odds, but she found it hard to do.

"That is what we are going to do. We'll leave tomorrow and just hope that Aang can glow it up and win." Sokka sounded like his plan had no chance at all, which wasn't far from the truth.

"No." Zuko had the most determined look Sokka and Katara had ever seen. "I am going to free my uncle. Toph and I heard that there was going to be a public execution in two weeks. I'll have him back by then. He has some friends that can help us, and Aang can finish mastering Earth while I'm gone. Then we can look at all of our advantages and decide the best plan of action."

"No way!" Katara spoke up yet again, getting right in Zuko's face as she said: "We aren't gonna let you go off on some suicide mission by yourself. We're a team, and you don't get to make executive decisions."

"Since when do you tell me what to do?" Zuko was already losing his temper, and he was about to explode in anger.

"Since I fought with everyone to convince them that you are in our side!" Katara was just as stubborn as Zuko, and she was close to drowning him on the spot as well.

"I will do whatever I want, and you won't stand in my way! I have to save my uncle!"

"You're not going anywhere and that's final!"

"What are you, my mother? Don't try to tell me what to do!"

The two benders were right in each other's faces, and both were practically screaming at the top of their lungs by now. Toph had finally had enough of the senseless bickering and, as usual, ended the argument. "ENOUGH! The two of you need to just shut up! Katara-" she was using real names, NOT good "-you can't order people around all of the time. This is Zuko's uncle we're talking about. He can go after him if he wants. And Zuko, you ARE a part of this team now, so start acting like it."

"Maybe I don't trust him alone in the Fire Nation Capitol; he'll probably give us away to his father so he can be a prince again." That was a low-blow, and everyone knew it. Before Zuko had a chance to bite the girl's head off, Toph responded.

"Then go with him. I need to stay with Aang, who we can't risk on a suicide mission, as you put it. Sokka is totally useless, but if you don't trust Zuko, than go with him."

"NO WAY!" was the simultaneous response from both of the benders in question.

"Okay, then wish him good luck and see ya later, Sparky." Toph smirked and got up to leave. As she was entering her room, she barely made out Zuko's voice.

"Thanks, and good night, Shrimp." She'd be sure to get him for that one whenever he got back.

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Zuko was all packed. He was going to get an early start on the day; he had a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in. He had just reached the shore when he heard Katara yelling to him. "Wait a second." She ran down to the shoreline and Zuko noticed that she was carrying a pack with her. "I'm sorry. What I said yesterday was out of line, I really do trust you. I jus-"

Zuko cut her off. "What do you want, Katara?" He didn't have time for this, he needed to get going, needed to rescue his uncle.

"I'm going with you."

A/N: Wow, these two chapters are really short, so I'll try to get chapter 4 up soon. It will be a lot longer, and the story is finally starting. Hope you liked it!


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: Alright, chapter 4! This one is longer because I finally got the background stuff out of the way. I know that a lot of people (including me) sometimes skip parts of stories that don't have Zuko or Katara in them. Because of this, I will make sure to review anything that is extremely important later. So skip around if you want to. I think I like this chapter the best, but I want to know what you guys think! Long AN, sorry. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. I can't even come up with a creative way to say it.**

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_"I'm going with you."_

"What? You can't be serious!" Was she insane or did she just really enjoy being a massive pain?

"I'm completely serious. You're going to need help, whether you want to admit it or not. Toph still needs to work with Aang, Sokka is busy with planning the invasion and learning as much as possible about the Fire Nation, and I'm going to make sure that Aang's firebending teacher doesn't get himself killed."

Zuko almost snapped back some reply about how the waterbender would only slow him down, but managed to bite it back. "Do you really want to leave those three alone for the next week or so? This isn't going to be a one-day thing." He knew that Katara cared too much about her friends to leave them for so long. She wouldn't leave them behind to help him.

"Of course not, but we need all the help we can get, and I owe your uncle enough to at least try to rescue him. Plus, I'm getting sick of washing Sokka's clothing, it smells terrible." Her weak attempt at humor was completely ignored by the fuming prince; who was so mad that he couldn't even form a proper sentence anymore.

"What are you- You can't actually- Are you insane? You're not going with me, you will slow me down or get me caught pulling some stupid stunt. Forget it." This infuriated the girl, who Zuko noted was almost as stubborn as himself.

"What makes you think that? I've never gotten us caught." Zuko scoffed. "It was never my fault." Now he just laughed. "Name one time."

"A certain waterbending scroll springs to mind. Oh, we can't possibly forget the whole necklace thing. It led that shirshu (sp?) right to you."

"That stuff was your fault," she screamed. She was about to continue yelling but she stopped herself. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Katara continued. "Look, I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. I don't care how much you don't want me with you." She sounded a bit hurt, but Zuko didn't care. He realized that he was getting nowhere and wasting valuable time, so he decided to give up.

"Just don't get in my way, got it?"

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_Hey guys,_

_Decided to go with Zuko to make sure he doesn't get killed. Also, I don't really trust him to go to the Fire Nation Capitol alone. I marked a spot on Sokka's map, be there in exactly twelve days. Toph, don't go too hard on Aang, he is still recovering. Good luck and I'll see you all again soon._

_-Katara_

Sokka couldn't believe it; he didn't _want_ to believe it. He read the note again, hoping the words had changed since last time. They hadn't.

He read gave the note to Toph as she approached. "Can you believe her? Why would she do this?" Sokka was ranting, oblivious to the fact that he had just handed a note to a blind girl.

"What are you talki-" Toph started, but Sokka didn't stop talking.

"What is she thinking? Going with Zuko?"

"Sokka what-"

"We have to go get her, she's not travelling alone with _him._"

"Sokka." Toph was getting annoyed, but Sokka didn't even stop to breathe.

"Of all the dumb ideas. And she picks _now_ to be this dumb? Who's gonna cook and cl-"

"SOKKA!" He stopped and stared, wide-eyed, at the earthbender. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I can't read and you really need to calm down. Now what is going on?" By this time Aang had joined them, and was looking incredibly confused by the whole situation.

"Right, sorry. It's Katara. She decided to go with Zuko to rescue his uncle. They left earlier. We have to go after them. She's not going on a suicide mission." Aang looked jealous, angry, and hurt all at the same time, while Toph seemed nonplussed by the whole thing.

Aang spoke up first. "I agree. Let's go get her, there's no way we can let her do this. It's crazy and we need her here." Toph knew the monk's real motives and swore to herself she wasn't jealous.

"I think you guys are overreacting. It makes sense. I need to be here to help Aang finish mastering earthbending, and Katara can easily hold her own out there. Or are you two babies too pathetic to go without your _mommy_ for a couple of days." The baby voice she used on mommy made both of the boys blush furiously.

"She is not our mother and that's not the point. This is incredibly dangerous and there is no reason for her to go." Sokka was determined to keep his baby sister out of harm's way at any cost. And Katara was not his mother.

"How can you say that? If it wasn't for Iroh she would be captured by Azula, maybe even dead at this point. That's a pretty good reason if you ask me." Toph was really losing her temperature, and if they had been on the ground instead of the metal ship, Sokka would already be up to his neck in dirt.

"Why should she care about him at all though? Or you for that matter. He's just another Fire Nation general."

"How can you even say that, Sokka? He saved your sister's life, and he is one of the nicest men I know. I would be with Zuko right now if Aang didn't need me so badly. You're being really prejudiced and ignorant Sokka. Katara is doing the right thing right now, so we aren't going to do anything to get in her way."

"I kinda have to agree with Toph here Sokka," Aang said begrudgingly. As much as he wanted to be with Katara, they all owed Iroh quite a bit. "She'll be fine out there; she and Zuko can take care of themselves. We need to focus on our parts in all of this. For you, that's gathering information and planning the invasion, not worrying about Katara." Aang had always been mature beyond his years, but it had really been starting to show more frequently as of late. Putting aside his own worries was tough, but he did it anyway.

Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but realized he was outnumbered. He wasn't worried so much about Katara's safety as he was about her being alone with Zuko. She seemed to have bad judgment when it came to boys, and he didn't want her to get hurt again. He sighed in defeat and accepted the fact that he wouldn't have a good cook for almost two weeks. _Be careful, sis,_ he thought as he went with Toph and Aang to tell the others.

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The two benders had been walking in awkward silence for about two hours now. Zuko walked very fast and Katara was actually getting a bit tired from trying to keep up. She thought about asking him to slow down before she realized that doing so would only prove his point. All of her earlier attempts at starting a conversation had received only grunts of annoyance or one-word responses.

She couldn't take the silence much longer so she decided to try again. "So... Uh... You're a prince. What was it like living in a palace?"

She expected Zuko to completely ignore her, but was pleasantly surprised when he gave an actual multiple-word reply. "It was very... boring. Between training, school, and meeting random nobles at fancy dinners; I had very little free time and was constantly bored out of my mind."

"Yeah, the South Pole wasn't very interesting either. A lot of ice and snow. I had to do tons of chores every day. Nothing interesting ever happened; until you and Aang showed up, of course." She laughed at this but Zuko's mood seemed to darken even more.

"I definitely made your lives interesting, huh?" He had decided that he was on the good team now, so he felt very bad about all of the things he had done to them. Talking about it didn't really help. He hoped that the waterbender would leave it at that and stop talking, but, as usual, luck was not on his side.

"Yeah you did. Everywhere we went you always seemed to show up. Every time. Haha, you were really annoying." Surprisingly enough, that didn't make Zuko feel any better. After Katara realized that Zuko was remaining silent, she continued. "At least you're good now though. Nobody's after us anymore and you've already helped us out a ton. I mean, I still haven't forgiven you for the tree incident, but you're definitely getting there. I bet that if we get to know you better we will all be good friends."

As always, Katara had an optimistic outlook on the whole situation. Zuko was not so sure, _he_ didn't know who he really was anymore. His thoughts travelled to his mother and he decided that Ursa would probably want him to be nice to the Water Tribe girl. She had always wanted Zuko to try to make more friends. "I hope so, and I really am sorry about all of those things. I had always thought I was doing the right thing." That was a lie. Zuko had known that he wasn't doing the right thing all along; he just wasn't willing to admit to himself that he was doing the wrong thing.

"It's alright. You've changed. Everyone deserves a second chance right?" _That sounded exactly like Aang,_ Zuko thought. _Is everyone here so forgiving?_ He reminded himself about Sokka and decided that no, they were not.

"I guess, though I doubt my father would switch sides if you asked him to." He had meant it as a joke, but humor wasn't one of Zuko's special talents. He figures that nothing having to do with words was really a strength for him.

"Probably not. Do you think he deserves another chance anyway?" Katara sounded a bit hopeful, as though they could win the war by just talking things through.

Originally, Zuko thought yes. Then he thought about the war. He thought about all of the suffering his father had caused. He thought about his mother... His face. "No."

His tone was one that told Katara the conversation was over. She was a bit shocked that Zuko had said such a thing about his own father, but she couldn't blame him. She wondered why his hand went up to his scar before he answered, but decided that it wasn't a big deal. They continued walking, but the silence was more dark and foreboding than awkward this time.

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Sokka had just finished packing his things and loading them onto Appa when his father approached him. Toph and Aang were going over some earthbending stances before they left. Toph wanted to make sure that the avatar hadn't gotten "weaker and more baby-like" in his two week sleep.

"Hey dad," Sokka started. "I'm just finishing packing up."

Hakoda looked up at his son, amazed at how much the boy had grown up in two agonizingly long years. He had never been more proud of both of his children. "I just wanted to say goodbye again before you leave."

Sokka slid off of Appa as he finished tying everything down. "Oh, well, it was really nice seeing you again dad. Katara had missed you a lot." Sokka was trying not to show how emotional he was about leaving his father yet again.

Hakoda laughed at his son, already knowing how much it hurt the boy to leave. "Watch out for these kids you're travelling with, they need a good leader to keep them in line." Hakoda was trying to avoid crying in front of his son, but his emotions were getting the best of him.

"Don't worry dad, I've got them under control. I'll make sure Katara's alright too." Sokka was beginning to tear up, but he refused to act like a little girl in front of his father. He was a man now, afterall.

"I know you will son. I'm so proud of you and your sister. And your mother would be too." Sokka embraced his father at this, trying in vain to stop the tears from falling. "I'll meet up with you two soon. I wish we could have spent more time together."

"Me too dad, me too." Sokka saw Aang and Toph approaching but he didn't really care right now. His father gently pushed him back.

"Be safe out there, and good luck." Toph and Aang climbed onto Appa's back and gave the two men their space.

"You two dad, I'll see you before the invasion." Sokka joined his companions after wiping his eyes and one last brief hug from his father.

"I love you, Sokka, and tell your sister I said the same."

"I love you too, dad. And I will." Sokka turned and nodded toward Aang, who gripped the reigns. With a "yip yip" from the avatar, the trio was off into the sky.

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Zuko and Katara had been walking all day and the sun was beginning to set. The forest that they were currently travelling through was dense, so not much light was getting through. Soon they would not be able to see at all.

Zuko was actually very happy. They had covered more distance than he had originally planned; mostly because he was testing his waterbending companion. He had expected her to ask him to slow down about ten minutes in, but close to twelve hours later, she was still carrying on without complaint. Zuko was amazed at the toughness, or stubbornness (he wasn't sure which kept the girl going), Katara had displayed. They had stopped briefly for a small lunch of seal-jerky and leachy nuts but had been walking at a steady pace ever since.

"We should stop to make camp next time we find a clearing." Katara practically cried in relief. Her feet were _killing_ her. She felt like someone had burned her feet and made her walk barefoot. Every step was progressively more painful and she had just about reached the point of crawling.

"I guess if you're tired we can stop." Zuko didn't need to know how badly she wanted to stop. He laughed at her, making her immediately angry. "What's so funny?"

"How stupid do you think I am?" She almost said very. "I know you're tired and probably in pain. You've been walking funny for about three hours now." How would he know that? Katara hadn't seen Zuko look back at her and thought that he hadn't noticed.

"Yeah, well maybe that's becau-" she was yelling at the prince, who cut her off.

"I'm not making fun of you; in fact I'm really impressed. Your brother would have been in tears within five minutes at the pace we've been walking. You haven't even complained yet." Whoa, hold on. Was Zuko, the arrogant, cruel, angry prince of the Fire Nation, complimenting her? No way.

Apparently Katara's face matched her thoughts, because Zuko smirked at her once again. "You're actually not so bad. Especially for a girl." Well, there went the moment.

"Oh, and I suppose that because I'm a _girl_ I'm not able to walk all day right? Geez, why are all men such pigheaded, ignorant, sexist jerks?" Zuko hadn't expected that.

"That's not what I meant at all. It's just that most girls are crazy, and you're not." His only experiences with girls had been Azula and her friends, so girls really did seem crazy to him.

"Haha, please. If either one of us is crazy, it's you; Mr. I-have-to-capture-the-avatar-to-restore-my-honor." She laughed as though the joke was actually funny, but to Zuko, it was just another reminder of a past he wanted to forget.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." As Zuko was saying this he walked into a small clearing, just big enough to make camp. He walked to the center and began to unpack his sleeping bag. The two benders had not even brought a tent; it _was_ late spring **(A/N I think. I'm not one hundred percent on the time frame from The Awakening to Black Sun)** in the Fire Nation after all.

Katara realized that Zuko was still ashamed by everything he had done, so she dropped the earlier conversation. "We don't have Appa with us, why are we staying in a clearing? Aren't we easier targets out here in the open?"

"It would probably be safer in the forest, unless you want to have a fire. I'd prefer not to burn all of these trees down to the ground while making dinner, but that's just me." Zuko had already begun preparing a pit for the fire, and Katara realized the validity of his point.

"Yeah, that's definitely a better option." Katara started setting up her stuff and unloading the meager cooking supplies that the two teenagers had brought with them. "I'll cook dinner if you collect the firewood."

"You would absolutely hate my cooking. I'll be back in a bit." Katara laughed as she watched the prince set out on his task. She turned back to her pathetic cooking resources. She had more jerky and leachy nuts, a few fruits and two small pieces of meat that she had frozen inside a small container she bought. The waterbender decided to go with a stew for dinner tonight. Two weeks with a bunch of warriors made you really sick of meat-heavy meals.

Zuko was collecting firewood while thinking things over, again. He had done a ton of thinking lately, but this was completely different. _Did I just have a_ friendly_ conversation with Katara? What in the world is wrong with me?_

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Azula walked into the throne room to see her father. She had just gotten home with Ty Lee (Mai had gone back to Omashu, or New Ozai, as it was) and her father had requested her presence.

"I have heard the story of how you single-handedly took down the avatar, and Ba Sing Se in the process, Princess Azula. I am very proud of you."

"Thank you father," Azula replied, still bowing to her father. "I was honored to serve my nation."

"I am disappointed to hear that your traitorous brother got away, however. You will make a fine Fire Lord in the future, Azula."

"Thank you father, but that won't be for many years to come." For some reason, Azula couldn't shake the feeling that the avatar had actually survived the attack in Ba Sing Se. She had been able to ignore the possibility ever since she had shot the boy down. "I assume that you have already been made aware of the enemy's plans for the day of the eclipse, father?"

"I have, and that is why I called you here. I want you to make sure that the avatars friends don't get a chance to go through with their plans." Was he sending her away, again? "You will travel with Ty Lee to find and destroy all of the avatars known allies. They do not pose much of a threat without the boy on their side, but I don't want the people to have any cause for worry. I'm counting on you Azula."

"I won't disappoint you, father." Azula bowed and left the room as calmly as she possible could. How could he send her away again? Ozai was treating her like Zuko. She was far better than her pathetic excuse for a brother could ever dream of being, yet her father still sent her away.

The princess looked up to see a messenger making his way hurriedly toward the throne room. "Where are you going?" The servant looked ready to run at the fire princess' angry question.

"I-I have a m-message f-for the Fire L-Lord, P-Princess." The man was obviously scared for his life, bowing until his head was only inches from the floor, despite the fact that he was standing up.

"I'll get it to him," she said, snatching the message and shooting the poor servant the most vicious glare she could muster. The man took off, practically running back to his other duties.

Azula opened the letter. It was a report. Two guards had seen the avatar near a port on the Eastern edge of the Fire Nation. She burned the notice to ashes and went off to find Ty Lee. _Now_ she had a good reason to leave again. She was going to finish what she started. The avatar wouldn't get lucky this time.

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Zuko sat in silence, staring into the glowing campfire as he thought about his uncle. He was so worried about the man who had always treated Zuko as a son, especially after Lu Ten passed away. He had been thinking almost nonstop while walking with Katara. He had been reflecting on himself. _Who was he, what did _he_ want?_ Zuko was trying to get over his new revelation. That his entire life, for three miserable years, had been based off of a lie. He had been trying to make the wrong people proud and he had lost himself in the process.

Zuko was determined to not only find himself again, but to always remember it from now on. He decided to start with rescuing his uncle and trying to develop a fragile trust, and possibly friendship, with his new allies. He knew it would take a lot of time, but that was no longer enough to deter Zuko. He wouldn't give up on people who didn't automatically accept him anymore. He had always done this in the past, and it caused Zuko all of the problems he had in working and communicating with others. It. Was also the reason behind Zuko's number of friends... Zero.

But he was changing. He had already changed. He had had conversations with Toph, Hakoda and Katara. He had even talked to Sokka about swordsmanship for a bit. Plus his anger was much easier to control now, though he still had a very short fuse. He found that he was able to clear his mind and think things over without meditating, which hadn't been possible throughout his banishment. And he had found himself a new drive. He wanted to make the people he cared about the most proud of him, that hadn't changed. What _had_ changed was who those people were. Originally, Ozai's opinion was he only one that had mattered to him. Now his mother and uncle had taken that role, and he knew that he was already on the right path.

Katara walked back into the clearing (she had gone to fill up their canteens in a nearby stream) to find Zuko staring at the campfire, completely lost in his thoughts. Katara wondered what was going on in the prince's mind, but every time she had tried to figure it out, she would hit a wall and Zuko would shut himself down. She knew that it meant that something about his past caused him a lot of pain when he thought about it, but she had no idea what it was. She knew that his mother was a part of it, but had a feeling that there was a lot more to it.

Katara had always been one to try to help others, but she found that Zuko was too hard for her to get to. He walled himself off better than Ba Sing Se. She had begun to feel bad for the banished prince, but she still didn't trust him. At least not completely. He had made up a lot recently, but Katara still didn't feel like he was completely on their side. He almost seemed like _he_ didn't even know what side he was on.

Katara considered trying to talk to Zuko again, but decided that sleeping would be a better idea. "I'm gonna go to bed now, Zuko. Goodnight."

"Night." Zuko didn't even glance her way when he responded, but she hadn't really expected him to. She crawled into her sleeping bag and swiftly fell into a comfortable sleep.

Zuko heard the waterbender's even breathing and glanced in her direction. She looked so young when she was asleep. _She _is_ young,_ he thought. _Far too young to be fighting a war._ All of them were too young to be fighting a war, now that he thought about it. Zuko looked up to the stars and imagined a world where peace reigned over all four nations as he drifted off to sleep as well.

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**A/N: Well, there is chapter 4! Hope you liked it! I'll have 5 up by Sunday or Monday. Sunday for sure if this chapter gets 5 reviews (5 for 5). Btw, can someone tell me how to respond to reviews? I bet it's pretty obvious and I'll feel stupid once I learn it, but I'm new at this. I really want to respond to my amazing reviewers! Also, do you guys want me to do longer chapters (4-7k words) less often or short chapters (2-4k words) more often? I'm totally fine with either way... Well I guess you guys are the judges of that. Thanks for reading, review?**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: Alright, so I decided to go with Taang as a ship in this one (I hadn't decided whether or not I wanted to), but if you guys don't want me to, tell me. It won't be very important to the story and it will work fine either way. Apparently nobody cared about chapter length, so I'll just write each chapter until I feel like it should end. I do have one thing for you guys. When I started this I had two ideas on how it should end (it's not for a while) but I want to know, do you guys want the longer version (like 5-10 chapters longer than the other) or the shorter version? I really like both endings, I just can't decide, so I'm asking you guys. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review, I really appreciate it. Here's chapter 5, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Do I need to put this on every chapter? Better safe than sorry. I own nothing.**

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Katara woke when her eyes couldn't ignore the incredibly bright light that was piercing the clearing she was sleeping in. She sat up and saw Zuko going through some firebending forms. He looked a lot better at bending than he had ever seemed before. She assumed that she was still waking up and couldn't accurately judge the prince on his skill this early. He had already made a fire and Katara knew that she would need energy if she was going to survive another day of travelling at Zuko's grueling pace. She began to make herself some breakfast and asked Zuko if he wanted anything to eat. "Yeah, that would be great, thanks."

Katara was starting to like the new Zuko, as she called him (to herself at least). He was actually pretty polite and considerate. He was still arrogant and impossible to deal with at times, but those were becoming few and far between. She still didn't trust him, but mostly because he kept to himself so much. Originally it seemed that he was simply worried about his uncle, but Katara now suspected that there was a bigger problem than that. He still seemed a little lost and confused, but more than that he seemed hurt. Katara wished she knew what it was that made him feel so much pain so she could comfort the firebender. Ever since she was little she had always wanted to make people happy, and with Zuko it felt even more important. She couldn't seem to figure out why it felt that way though.

Katara jumped as the breakfast she was cooking made a popping noise beside her. She felt her cheeks heat up when she realized that her eyes had been locked on the shirtless form of Zuko, who was still practicing his forms. Katara grabbed a plate (she had packed one for each of them) and put Zuko's breakfast on it. As she approached Zuko, she noticed how different the prince looked than Aang or her brother. He was much more well-built; his muscles were bigger and wasted no amount of movement or energy. He wasn't overly muscular like The Boulder either. The word that came to her mind to describe it was _perfect_. She immediately stopped that train of thought and focused on anything but Zuko.

"Breakfast is ready!" Katara handed Zuko the plate of slightly burnt food. Sokka probably would have swallowed it without noticing that it was overcooked, but Zuko didn't. He hesitated for a while and Katara expected him to yell at her for being so careless.

"Thank you. It looks delicious." Okay, he was really full of surprises today. There was no way that Zuko didn't notice that his food was burnt. Katara smiled and nodded her thanks before heading back to pack up.

Zuko hadn't missed the fact that his breakfast was a little crispier than he would have liked it, and he hadn't missed the blush on his companion's face either. The prince assumed she was embarrassed about burning the food, which is why he didn't think that she had done it on purpose as some form of payback. He was trying to get on her good side, so he kept his mouth shut about the ruined meal. After forcing down the overcooked food Zuko put his shirt back on and packed up his things. He hadn't worked up a sweat and figured he would need to bathe after walking all day anyway.

When both teens were ready to go, Zuko put out the fire and the benders set off. Katara decided to see if Zuko would continue his streak of being pleasant by attempting to start a conversation. "So, how long have you been firebending?"

"I discovered that I was a bender when I was three and I've been training ever since. I wasn't too good at it so I always had to work harder than anyone else. Azula didn't have that problem." Under-statement of the century.

"I learned I could bend at five, but I had to train myself. Until we got to the North pole, of course." She decided to leave out that it was the Fire Nation's fault she had not been trained younger. Zuko already knew that anyway, he had thought that the South Pole hadn't had any benders at all before he actually got there.

"No kidding, you improved amazingly fast. You're very talented." Zuko had no trouble admitting she was good; it was true. She had beaten _him_ at the North Pole (forget that he had carried the avatar on his back through a blizzard whereas she had ridden on Appa's back right before she beat him) after all.

Katara blushed at the unexpected compliment from the Fire Prince. He was really changing, but Katara knew she still needed to be careful. Maybe she could trust him better if she knew what he thought about all the time. He was always thinking by himself, completely unaware of his surroundings. She figured it couldn't hurt to try, not too badly, anyway. "Thanks, you're pretty good too. So why did you leave the palace? Why didn't you just stay home?"

"I was banished." His voice had reverted back to its former coldness. There he went, closing himself off, as always. Katara realized that she had probably gone a bit too far, but she wasn't about to let him get away with it this time.

"What for?" He didn't respond. "You can tell me, whatever it was, I won't care. You're different now." Even as she spoke them, her words scared her. He was the prince. He must have done something insanely horrible to get himself banished. When he continued to ignore her, Katara tried a new approach. "You know, if you want us to trust you, you need to open up a bit. It's not like you being banished is a big deal." That came out wrong. She meant it wasn't a big deal to the gaang; it wouldn't make them dislike him any more than they already did. It was obviously a huge deal to him, who banishes their own son anyway?

"You try spending three years at sea and tell me how big a deal it is." Zuko's voice was completely emotionless, but Katara knew she had hurt him. She was about to apologize when the forest suddenly opened up and her eyes found a large village and her jaw dropped. In the distance, she saw a huge volcano that had a path leading up to it. Behind it and stretching all the way around to her left side was a mountain range. When combined with the vast expanses of green farmland up ahead and the blue, shimmering surface of the ocean off to her right, it was the most beautiful site Katara had ever seen.

"Wow. It's... Incredible." She sounded just as awestruck as she actually was.

"See the volcano up ahead?" Katara nodded. "That's the city of Sozin. That is where we're going."

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Toph and Aang sat in silence in the dark cave. Toph had sent Sokka to go get them all disguises, mostly because she couldn't stand his whining about "enemy birds" or "serious lack of cooking talent". He was acting paranoid with his sister gone, but his stomach still controlled the majority of his thoughts.

They had all wanted to go into the town to get food and to try and learn a thing or two about the Fire Nation. They almost walked right into town wearing their normal clothes when Aang remembered. Now Toph was forced to sit with Aang, who hadn't gotten over the fact that Katara had left yet. When the earthbender could no longer tolerate the avatar's sulky attitude, she broke the silence. "Alright Twinkletoes, it is time for some training." She knocked Aang onto the ground face-first when he let out an over-dramatic groan of annoyance. "You need to be ready to face the Firelord by the time the eclipse comes, so stop worrying about Madame fussy britches and concentrate for a while." Toph knew that she was way too harsh, but she didn't care. Why did he have to be near Katara all the time?

Aang had no idea what made her so angry, but realized that what she said was true. Katara was becoming a huge distraction for him. She was the reason he couldn't control the avatar state and now he couldn't even train without thinking about her. But he loved her. Isn't that more important than training? Yes, but not more important than the fate of the world, he thought. Why did he have to sacrifice so much? Why couldn't he have been normal? "Well I'm worried about her. What if she gets hurt and we can't help her?"

"Do you honestly think Katara would want you to skip training just to worry about her? You need to just man up and focus. After the war is over you and Sugar Queen can spend all day being mushy and making googley eyes at each other. As for now, you're training." Aang knew better than to argue with the earthbender when she got like this. He couldn't figure out what it was that made her so angry. Did he say something wrong? He was concerned for his friend, that wasn't a bad thing. What had Sokka said about girls and mood swings? He couldn't remember, but it had something to do with cycles, whatever that meant. Aang walked out of the cave and mentally prepared himself to take a beating. Earthbending training absolutely _SUCKED_ when Toph was in a bad mood.

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Katara and Zuko were approaching a small town that they would be going through on the way to the capitol. She had really wanted to apologize for what she said earlier, but couldn't figure out the best way to go about it. Zuko was very hard to predict, and she didn't want to say something that would upset him further, or lead to a fight. Silence just seemed like the best option, so she was completely surprised when Zuko spoke. "Let's get some food here and then move on. We can be in the palace city by tomorrow night if we keep this pace up, which would give us enough time to develop a plan." He wasn't really asking for her input, but she gave it to him anyway.

"Sounds like a good plan, but what happens if we get recognized? We are kind of… conspicuous." That was the nicest way she could ask how he would hide his scar. Unlike the other three, Katara and Zuko had been smart enough to take some Fire Nation clothes off of the captured ship (though Katara washed them close to thirty times before actually putting them on), so Zuko's scar was the only thing that made them stand out. Well, besides Katara's blue eyes, but that wasn't as easy to see, especially from a distance. The red mark taking up half of Zuko's face was very easy to see. Katara wondered how he had gotten it, but forced herself to focus on the task at hand and save that particular question for another time.

"I'm going to wear a bandage and say that you punched me."

"Why would I punch you? I'm not that violent." Zuko laughed causing Katara to angrily water-whip him in the back of the head. She realized a bit too late that this only proved his point, and she turned away from him with an indignant "humph". Zuko was wearing a smirk that clearly asked: "what were you saying again?"

"It's just a story, you can say it was an accident. The point is my scar will be covered, so as long as you let me do the talking, we'll blend in fairly well." Katara sent him a glare before starting toward the village and calling back over her shoulder.

"Fine, let's go. What should our cover names be?" Zuko jogged to catch up to her as he finished bandaging his eye.

"You can be Ty Lee, easy to remember, and I'll be Lee. Simple names that are very common. How does this look? Does it cover the whole thing?" Katara looked over at the prince and had to work very hard to keep from blushing. He would be very handsome without his scar, though she was actually getting used to the mark.

"It's fine. Lee and Ty Lee huh? ...You're not very creative, are you?" She made sure her voice was even and didn't convey what she was thinking.

"They are cover names; creativity would be stupid and dangerous. Oh, and whatever Aang may have told you about Fire Nation culture, forget it." He still remembered the avatar calling him hotman.

"Aang has never said anything about Fire Nation culture, how would he even know about it?" She left out her final question, why would Aang tell Zuko but not her?

"He doesn't. He greeted me with slang that was a hundred years old. It was pretty funny. Apparently he had a friend from the Fire Nation a century ago. At least, that's what he told me. I'm sure you know more about it than I do." Zuko felt a bit odd talking about the avatar as though he was a friend, but he was proud of himself for not slipping up and using "the avatar" instead of Aang.

"Actually Aang has never mentioned it. When did he tell you about it?" How much had Zuko talked to Aang? Katara could only remember one interaction where the two hadn't been fighting.

"He was talking about it after I rescued him from Zhao a few months ago. He asked me if I thought that we could be friends. I guess the answer was yes." He hadn't ever answered the question, unless you count a poorly aimed fire blast as an answer.

"When did you rescue Aang from Zhao? Where was I?" Why hadn't Aang ever mentioned this to her? How many more secrets was he keeping?

"Oh, I assumed he had told you. It was a couple of months ago. I don't know where you were but Aang had been chasing around some frogs. It was really odd. I think he said that his friends needed to suck on them. It almost kept us from escaping."

"Oh, well Aang never told us anything about it." Katara was a little hurt by the fact that Aang hadn't told her, but then again, she hadn't even told him her real reason for going on this trip with Zuko. She supposed that made them even.

"So did you really suck on the frogs?"

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Aang quickly dove out of the way of yet another rock hurtling at his head. He had made the mistake of using airbending earlier in his "sparring match" with Toph. It cost him fifty push-ups. WITH his teacher sitting on his back. She told him it would be Appa next time he used anything but earthbending. Toph was angry and she wasn't pulling any punches, despite Katara's suggestion to let Aang rest up a bit. In fact, that was probably making her fight even harder.

Aang sensed the pillar Toph was bringing up from underneath him and side-stepped it before quickly turning on his heel and kicking the newly formed earth structure back at his mentor. She merely broke it into two pieces and lifted two boulders the size of Sokka out of the ground. She sent one low and one high, forcing Aang to jump and roll over himself to dodge them both. He punched the ground as he landed, bending the earth toward his instructor, who simply lifted herself up on a large earth platform. She raised three more from the ground and sent them at Aang, who once again dodged.

"Come on Twinkletoes, stop dodging. This is _earth_ bending, now stand your ground and stay rooted!" As she said this, Toph lifted a dozen rocks the size of fists out of the ground. She sent them one after the other at her student. Aang blocked each one without moving or dodging, instead he punched and kicked each one, leaving no openings in his defense for the blind girl to exploit.

"Uh, Toph... Could we... slow down... just a little bit?" Aang was panting heavily and the only reply he received came in the form of some dense rocks that were more compact and harder to break. There were also four of them, so Aang quickly raised a wall of earth to shield himself. He lowered the wall to find Toph, completely covered in a suit of earth, heading straight at him at full speed. He quickly brought up multiple pillars in an attempt to slow the oncoming earthbender. Toph merely swerved around or broke straight through the newly erected pillars.

Aang tried to bend Toph's armor to either stop her or dismantle the rock, but Toph had a strong hold on all of the earth that was surrounding her. As Toph neared to within striking distance, Aang propelled himself over the top of by bending the earth below his feet. He landed softly by slowing his descent with a small burst of air. He turned to see Toph blindly staring at him with a smile on her face.

"Well done, Twinkletoes. I must say that I'm actually a bit impressed by your progress. That's enough for today." Aang smiled and started sprinting to get as far away as possible in case Toph changed her mind. "Oh and by the way. This is for using airbending to land at the end there." As Toph said it, a large pillar of earth rocketed Aang into the air. He landed (softly again) about five feet in front of Sokka, who was returning with their new disguises.

"How's training?"

"How does it look? Where did you get the outfits?" Aang didn't remember them having much money.

"Well, I sort of stole them. But only in the name of saving the world." Sokka walked into the cave and threw his new clothes on. "How do they look?"

"They look great to me," came Toph's sarcastic response.

"Thanks. See I really like how it makes my arms look... hey! Do you always have to do that?"

"Yes Snoozles, yes I do." Toph left the two to try on their clothes. As she walked away she couldn't help but wonder why Aang only seemed to notice her when she was throwing rocks at him.

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Ty Lee looked out the window of the airship and took in the spectacular view. She had always loved heights, and this was a new personal record. She could see everything for miles and miles in every direction. The houses below looked incredibly small and the acrobat began thinking about what it would be like if she was super tiny. She was cut off from thinking too long by Azula, who was shouting out orders to everyone.

"Set our course to the Southeast. The avatar and his friends will stay along the coastline until closer to the eclipse. They were reportedly travelling south from the Western most point of the Fire Nation. We can intercept the bison around the My Lai Forest." The captain stood and bowed to Azula. He hesitated before addressing the princess.

"Um, your highness. The My Lai Forest is the largest in the Fire Nation. The avatar would have hundreds of places to hide. Perhaps we should wait for him east of the forest. I think it would increase our chances of successfully getting rid of the avatar." The captain sure had guts, no one would deny that. Azula however, didn't like this fact.

"Are you questioning my orders? I could have your death warrant signed and hand delivered to your family by tomorrow morning if I wanted to. You need to remember your place. We will intercept the avatar near the My Lai Forest. Is that clear? ...Good, now get back to work, all of you."

Ty Lee had noticed that Azula's temper was seemingly getting shorter, and she seemed to be a bit off, almost like she was losing it. She didn't dare to voice her thoughts; Azula was scary enough when she could control her emotions. She looked back out the window and wondered what Mai was doing in Omashu. Lucky for her, she wasn't dealing with Azula's loosening grip on sanity.

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Zuko and Katara had gotten through the small town in a relatively uneventful fashion. They had been called a couple on multiple occasions, on all of which both benders were very fast to deny any romantic relationship. Now they were walking and talking about the future. They had already planned out how they were going to rescue Iroh; they just needed to execute the plan. They also needed to find a way to get to the My Lai forest in eight days time. That was where they would be meeting back up with the others.

"So what was the real reason you came on this trip with me?" Katara looked at him, a bit confused. He continued, "there is no way you were really just concerned for my safety, so what was it?"

Katara hesitated, not sure whether or not telling Zuko was a good idea. The two had formed a fragile trust and a bit of a friendship, and Katara felt surprisingly comfortable around him as well as when she spoke to him. "I needed to get away from Aang." Now it was Zuko's turn to look confused. "He really likes me and I can't handle it right now. I love Aang, but like a best friend... or a little brother. He likes me in a more romantic way, and I think I distract him from getting things done. He always goes out of his way to do things for me, but it cuts into his training time. I'm worried that I'll prevent him from being as good as he possibly can and that we will lose because of it." She had no idea that that was exactly what had happened at Ba Sing Se.

"Maybe it would be better to talk to him. You can't control how you feel about people and you can't force yourself to return his feelings. Aang would understand that, he is incredibly mature for his age. Just tell him to worry about it after the war."

"I thought about that, but I don't want to get his hopes up just so I can crush them later. I just can't picture the two of us together. But I don't want to hurt him." Katara already knew that she would have to hurt him eventually, but Zuko told her anyway. "I know," she said. "It just seems like he's lost so much, he shouldn't have to make so many sacrifices."

"I completely agree with you, but you have to be honest with him. If there is no chance of you two being together, he deserves to know. If there _is_ a chance, than you should tell him to wait until after the war." Zuko decided that they had reached a good stopping point, so he stopped and began unpacking. Katara followed suit and the two had set up camp in a grand total of three and a half minutes. They were both tired out from the long day and they had eaten a huge lunch, so both benders immediately crawled into their bags. "_Is_ there a chance you'll end up together?" Zuko had no idea why he asked the question, he just did.

After a long pause Katara finally whispered "no... there isn't." _Not like there is with you._

_Not even close_.

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Toph sat alone on the beach, letting the ocean come in and cover her feet while she thought. She was so jealous of Katara. Even when she wasn't around, Sugar Queen was all Aang could think about. Toph hadn't known about her feelings for Aang until she "saw" him almost dead in Ba Sing Se. Since then she had come to terms with those feelings and blocked them out as best as she could. For some reason, today wasn't a good day for that. Maybe it was because today made her realize she had no chance. She felt Aang approaching from her left. "Hey Twinkletoes, sup?" She did her best to sound nonchalant.

"Not much, I just wanted to talk to you a bit." Aang sat down next to Toph as she waited for him to continue. "First, I'm sorry I've been so down lately, I just miss Katara." Toph didn't like this conversation so far.

"We are all worried about her, even me." It was true, she liked Katara. She just hated that Aang cared about her so much, which she knew was a bad way to look at it.

"I know, I know..." Aang sighed heavily. "Can I tell you something?" Toph nodded hesitantly. "I never mastered the avatar state. To do so, I have to let go of Katara. How am I supposed to let go of her? Do you think it's wrong for me to choose her over the avatar state, which might be the key to winning this war?"

Toph wanted to say yes, forget her; but she decided to actually help Aang as best as she could. "I don't know. I know Katara would do anything to win this war, but it's important to follow your heart."

"Do you think I should tell Katara? I think she would want me to let her go, but I don't want to. Why should I have to let anyone go?"

"You shouldn't, but families shouldn't have to lose fathers and sons to a pointless war either. The world isn't fair sometimes, and it asks for more from us than what we want to give it. You have to ask yourself where you draw the line." Aang seemed to ponder this for a moment before getting up to leave.

"Thanks Toph, I think you're right. I need to think about what I want to do. Goodnight." Toph slammed her fist into his shoulder as he started to leave.

"Goodnight," she said, smiling. Maybe she had a pretty good chance after all.

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**A/N: I'm not sure how much I like the Taang scene at the end there, and I really don't know that I like the sparring scene. It's hard to think of different ways to describe a pillar, so I sorta gave up. Also, Zuko and Katara feel OOC to me, though I guess that's cause they are trying to be nice to each other. Zuko never betrayed Katara in my fic so it's hard to say how easily she would trust him. It seemed like she was quick to trust Zuko in the Crossroads episode, but I don't know. I wanna hear what you guys think, your opinions matter more than mine. Review please! And thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**AN: I hit 20 reviews! You guys are the best readers ever, even if you didn't review. I was going to post this chapter yesterday, but I wrote it in halves and deleted the second one. I'm really sorry and I'll try to update again tomorrow. I posted my second story ever two days ago, The Blue Uprising, but I wanted to let you all know that this fic will come first, and I promise to only work on TBU when I'm ready to post the next chapter of this. So originally I planned on having like four chapters up by now at the most, but I love writing it and I have basically stayed up late every night writing. So it's going to continue, and I want to finish it before my birthday, which is in November. Since school starts next week my posting rate may slow down, but this story will be at least 35 chapters. I have an easy schedule (since it's my senior year) so I can stay up late writing. I just wanted to let you guys know so you don't all hate me if I can't keep posting every other day. Anyway, enjoy chapter six!**

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The entire day had gone by uneventfully, and Zuko and Katara had made small talk over pointless things like climate differences between the Fire Nation and the South Pole. As Zuko had predicted, the pair of benders had reached their destination just before sunset, and had already set up camp. Katara was cooking dinner as Zuko donned his Blue Spirit disguise, minus the mask. He kind of missed it; the clothes weren't as cool and mysterious without the blue demon-faced mask. It didn't really matter, he just needed to blend in and not be seen in the shadows. Zuko planned to head into Sozin tonight so that he could try to learn the location of his uncle. Tomorrow night he and Katara would bust in and break out the retired general.

There were only two locations that were usable to keep such powerful prisoners, and both were heavily guarded. The palace had a dungeon that could easily hold Iroh, and so did the maximum security prison on the outskirts of town. Ironically, the maximum security prison had less security, so Zuko hoped his uncle was being held there. He planned to scope out whichever location Iroh was being held at to figure out approximately how many guards he and Katara would have to face.

They needed to be able to break Iroh out of prison, escape without being detected and get as far away as physically possible by sunrise; otherwise they would definitely be followed. Zuko and Katara getting captured was one thing, leading an army straight to the avatar was another. The safety of Aang came first, and they could not allow the Fire Nation to discover where Aang was. Zuko and Katara needed to be sure that they didn't lead the Fire Nation to the meeting site for the invasion, otherwise their plan would fail. Basically, if they were followed, they were screwed.

This meant that Zuko needed to make his plan absolutely perfect. There were not going to be any second chances here, so perfection was the only option. The question was: how do they get away? The Fire Nation had Komodo rhinos, tanks, and a plethora of other animals to ride. Zuko and Katara had their feet. The Fire Nation had thousands of men to search for them. Zuko and Katara had a four day travel, two of which would be spent almost completely out in the open. To say that they were at a disadvantage wouldn't even begin to describe the situation.

Zuko was snapped out of his trance as Katara reached a plate of opossum-chicken toward him. "I said dinner's ready."

Zuko grabbed the plate and looked up at the waterbender. "Sorry, I was thinking. Thank you, it looks amazing. And it's not even burnt this time." Katara blushed and gave a small nervous laugh. Then she noticed the prince's attire.

"Are you going somewhere?" He looked like a ninja and those were not his normal pajamas. Katara's blush deepened as she thought of Zuko's normal pajamas: a pair of shorts. She looked away to hide her dark red cheeks as Zuko responded.

"I'm going to try to figure out where they are keeping my uncle. Then I'll see how many guards we'll have to deal with so that we can devise an escape plan." Zuko continued to eat his dinner, which he noticed was cooked to perfection. Maybe Katara _had_ burnt his food on purpose the other day.

"So what do you expect me to do?" Zuko began to reply but she continued. "I said I was helping you on this mission, which includes this. I'm going in with you."

Zuko noticed that this was a familiar conversation, and he decided that it would more than likely end up like the other one. He figured that Katara wouldn't cause problems if she could be stealthy. She already had the clothes for sneaking around; she needed them for the actual escape anyway. "Fine, you can go. Just stay quiet and follow my lead. We can't be seen tonight or else someone will figure out that something's up. I'm not going to fail this time, so you need to stay near me and do what I say. Got it?"

Katara was slightly angered by the way he was talking to her; it made her feel like a three-year-old. She decided that Zuko was just trying to be safe; he didn't want to risk losing his uncle. "Okay, I'll go get changed. Are we leaving right after sunset?"

"Yes."

Katara went into the tent (they actually put it up this time) and changed into her all black outfit. She returned to find Zuko doing his favorite thing once again. Staring into the campfire and contemplating his purpose in life. She thought that by now the firebender could probably have every second of the rest of his life planned out. She wanted to know what he thought about so much. She wanted to help him move on from whatever it was that haunted him so badly. She decided to take a guess as to what Zuko was currently wondering about. "You must really love your uncle a lot."

Zuko responded, but kept his gaze locked on the fire. "He has always been there for me. Ever since he lost his son to the war, he's treated me like a son. And until recently I was horrible to him. I always tried to please my dad, but my uncle was the one who deserved the effort. I can't stand the thought of losing him."

"You're not going to lose him, we'll get your uncle out of here safely Zuko, I promise." Now Zuko turned to face her. His eyes showed more emotion than she had ever seen from anyone. He looked so confused, and hurt, and... broken. "Are you okay, Zuko?"

"No, I'm not okay. I've made so many mistakes in my life, so many bad decisions. But for some reason there are still people that stand by me, and I always end up putting them in danger. Everyone I care about is constantly thrown into dangerous situations. First it was my mother, then it was my uncle, and now it's you." The words escaped his mouth before he even registered them. It was true though, he had come to care for Katara like a best friend, probably because she was his only friend, and soon she would be in danger because she was helping him. Zuko turned away quickly, embarrassed to no end at what he had just said. Katara thought she had seen a single tear escape his good eye, but she was a bit more focused on his words.

Zuko cared about her? What did that mean? Did he consider them friends or did he mean it as something more? Katara assumed it was the former and responded to try to make Zuko feel less awkward. "That may be true, but the reason those people are willing to stand by you is because they care about you too." Katara blushed as she spoke, but she cared about Zuko as well. She just didn't know how much she cared.

"But why? Why would anyone care about me? I'm a failure. I've ended up ruining everything I've ever started." Katara couldn't believe how someone who seemed so confident all the time could have such low self-esteem. His father had really gotten to him. Where Hakoda had taught his children to be compassionate, understanding, and to always fight for what you believe in, Ozai had taught his to be cold, emotionless, and powerful. Zuko couldn't be those things, so he considered himself a failure.

"You aren't a failure. You're fighting against your own nation because you know that they are wrong. You helped us escape Ba Sing Se successfully, and you are going to get your uncle back. Showing emotions, caring about people, and making mistakes don't make you a failure; they make you human. The fact that you never give up and you learn from the mistakes you make is what makes you successful. You're a good person Zuko, I know it. You just need to stay true to who you are."

Zuko smiled to himself. _Never forget who you are._ Zuko had failed, but he wasn't going to again. He knew who he was now, and he would never let himself forget it. He found it a bit amazing that it took the words of a "water peasant" to make him realize that he still had hope for himself.

"I think you're right Katara. Thank you."

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Sokka, Toph and Aang had been airborne for two hours now. After they had all put on their disguises, they had gone into town to go shopping. Sokka was looking at a fine collection of well-crafted swords when a huge chorus of angry screams filled the air outside. A large of group of people was pointing at the now hatless avatar screaming things like "get him!", or "kill the avatar!" Aang later explained that he had simply greeted a teenaged kid by saying the traditional 'flameo' and bowing deeply. The other kid had said something about a dork before grabbing and throwing Aang's oversized hat, revealing the monk's airbending tattoos.

Aang was sitting up front thinking about the whole Katara situation, and Sokka had been stuck on the same I Spy game for six minutes now. He couldn't see anything else that started with the letter 'N'. Maybe he was just bli... Wow. "Really Toph, again? Why did you suggest the game if you can't play it? It's nothing. You see nothing."

"Took you long enough Snoozles, you fall for that every time. It's really pathetic." Sokka huffed angrily and tuned out the annoying laughs of the young earthbender. Why did she always feel the need to make him feel stupid? She was so normal that it was hard for him to remember that she was blind sometimes. Sokka figured that being mean was Toph's way of showing affection, albeit an annoying one.

Sokka decided to stop thinking about Toph, even thinking about her made him feel dumb. Instead his thoughts turned to his sister. He really hoped that she was alright, that she knew what she was doing. Travelling with the prince of the Fire Nation into the capitol of said Fire Nation just didn't seem like a good idea to Sokka. He knew that he was being a bit paranoid, but Katara was his baby sister, and it was his job to protect her. Instead he had to sit back and hope that she wouldn't get hurt or captured, trusting _Zuko_ to keep her safe. It wasn't his fault that he was so worried; he was just being a good older brother. He had lost enough people he cared about already, his mother, for two years his father, Yue _and_ Suki.

_Suki._

Sokka still had no idea where she was, if she was even alive. He knew that she was captured by Azula along with the other Kyoshi warriors. What he didn't know was what Azula would do to them. Sokka knew that Azula was completely heartless and evil, but he hoped she wouldn't kill or torture his girlfriend. Actually, Sokka didn't know if Suki was his girlfriend, but they were very close, and she _had_ kissed him… twice. Sokka wanted to try to find her, but he knew that helping Aang was more important, regardless of how badly he wanted to save the girl. It hurt for him to accept that he couldn't do anything about it, but everyone was forced to make sacrifices to help win this war. Sokka simply couldn't afford to be selfish. He needed to focus on the invasion and worry about Suki later. He didn't want to have two girls he cared about so much being held captive by the Fire Nation, and if Katara did get captured, Sokka would kill every Fire Nation soldier he had to in order to get his sister back. He had some small amount of hope that Zuko and Katara would at least learn of Suki's fate, but he knew that it was incredibly unlikely.

As Appa descended so the group could set up camp for the night, Sokka thought about what he would do after the war was over. As much as he missed his home, he couldn't imagine going back there, at least by himself. He had learned so much about the world and himself on his journey that he didn't know if he could go back to the monotonous life the South Pole had in store for him. Whatever he did, he knew that he would have the support of his family, and he knew that all of them would see the end of the war. Sokka wasn't going to let it tear anyone else away from him. In fact, Sokka wished that he could fight the war himself, so that no one he cared about would be put in danger. He knew that this was completely impossible, so the warrior resigned himself to protecting those he cared about whenever he could, and helping and supporting them whenever he couldn't.

Sokka just wished that he could do less supporting and more protecting.

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Azula was furious. No, she was worse than that, she was losing her mind with anger. If there was one more delay in getting to the My Lai forest, she would probably end up shooting lightning through the face of every crew member on the ship. The princess had expected to arrive within two days travel, leaving her enough time to prepare for the avatar and her traitorous brother.

At the rate they were currently travelling it would take at least another day late, making Azula two days later than she wanted to be. She had just burst into the control room and made her way over to the captain, who was now cowering away from her. Ty Lee watched from the door, not wanting to risk Azula's wrath being turned on her.

"How much longer will it take us to reach the forest if we travel at full speed?" Azula was so angry that steam was coming off of her. Literally.

"W-we c-could probably b-be there by t-tomorrow, sixteen hours at l-least, p-princess." Azula became even more enraged and now smoke was pouring from her mouth with every breath she exhaled. The captain's eyes widened when he noticed this.

"WE WILL BE THERE WITHIN TEN HOURS OR YOU WON'T ARRIVE AT ALL! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" The captain nodded and Azula stormed away angrily. She went back to her quarters, throwing aside two unlucky crew members that had accidently crossed her path.

"Sorry about that, she's just a bit stressed out right now. It was nothing personal." Ty Lee tried to make the captain feel better, but it had very little effect. She turned to follow her friend so she could try to calm the fire princess down. She was fairly certain it was a task that nothing short of a miracle could accomplish.

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Two figures crept silently through the shadows of the empty streets of Sozin. The only things that could be seen were the occasional hand gestures from one to the other. The streets were completely vacant, the guards that normally patrolled them were nowhere to be found. Candles and lamps still lit the houses, so the guards were the only ones that were not in their usual places.

Zuko was once again surprised by the waterbender. She was actually pretty good at being stealthy. She could definitely improve, but she was far better than Zuko had expected. He had been worried that she would try to talk or walk into a lit area, both of which would immediately blow their cover. She had actually made very little noise, her steps were a bit louder than they needed to be, but that wasn't too big a deal.

Zuko had noticed the severe lack of guards, which was not normal for this time of night. Crime rates were pretty high, so guards or soldiers would act as a police force during the night. The first thing Zuko had thought upon seeing the streets so empty was that his uncle's execution had been moved up, and that everyone had gone to the palace to watch. When he saw the lights in some of the houses, he knew that was not the case. They had been travelling for about ten minutes before Zuko finally spotted two guards. They were heading to the maximum security prison, so Zuko assumed that they were changing shifts. He signaled Katara before climbing onto a nearby roof and following them.

Katara saw the signal and knew exactly what he meant. She was to follow from the next street over to avoid any risk of detection. She went as quietly as she could and followed the faint outline of Zuko. She couldn't hear anything, so she let her mind wander to the conversation she had had with Zuko earlier.

Katara was both amazed and concerned at how fast she had come to trust the banished prince. He was actually a good person once you got to know him. Considering how his family was, he turned out a lot better than expected. Now that he was starting to open up, Katara could see what Zuko could be like. He could be caring and compassionate, despite being raised to be the exact opposite.

The waterbender smiled to herself. She had been able to get through to Zuko. He had always walled himself up and locked away his emotions, but Katara had been able to get past that. She had always been good at helping people, but Zuko seemed like an impressive accomplishment. She wondered how many people the prince had ever opened up to before. She assumed the number was around three, including her, so it was a pretty impressive feat. In less than three weeks she had come to trust her ex-enemy more than she had ever expected to. She just couldn't help but wonder why Zuko was opening up to her at all.

When Zuko's silhouette came to an abrupt halt, Katara stopped as well. Zuko signaled her to stay put, so she tried to listen to any noises she could hear. She was curious as to how Zuko could even see her, but he was a lot better at the whole stealth thing than she was. The guy definitely knew what he was doing. She tried to focus on her mission, but couldn't get the firebender off of her mind.

Zuko had been having trouble concentrating as well, but forced himself to focus in on the conversation taking place below him. The two men were definitely talking about his uncle. "I'm telling you, the old man is losing it. He just sits there all day doing nothing."

"That's probably why the Firelord was willing to call almost all of the guards to the palace. What do you think they're talking about?" _So Iroh was being held at the prison... good._

"I heard it had to do with the eclipse, we are building a bunker and evacuating the city before it happens. That way we can fight while we have our bending."

"But the enemies' two biggest threats are the child avatar and our pathetic ex-prince. How big of a threat could they possibly pose?" _Ouch, that stung._

"I don't know. Don't forget that princess Azula is off hunting the avatar as we speak. After she defeats him, we will win without any trouble at all." Wait, Azula was after Aang? That's not good.

Zuko hopped off the roof, landing silently right next to Katara, and scaring the waterbender in the process. Zuko had thought she might scream, so he covered her mouth with his gloved hand. "Calm down, it's just me."

Katara relaxed as Zuko dropped his hand. She whispered back to him, "Did you learn anything? Where is your uncle?"

"He is being held at the prison, and most of the guards are attending a meeting about the eclipse. So we basically have two options." Zuko decided to leave out the other things for now; he would tell Katara about his sister later. "Option one is the original plan, come back tomorrow night and break him out. Option two is to go in now, while there are fewer guards, and get out of here tonight."

Katara knew which option Zuko preferred without even asking. "Let's do this."

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Mai had just received a letter from Azula. Apparently the avatar was alive and Azula needed Mai's help yet again. Mai had actually been getting use to the monotonous life in New Ozai, but she knew better than to refuse a request from Azula. The only thing was that she was sick of Azula. Sick of the way her so-called friend treated her. It was like Azula couldn't be nice at all. She didn't ask her friends to do things, she ordered them to.

Mai didn't want to go back to Azula. She didn't want to leave her little brother. Okay sure, she hated New Ozai, but she hated being with Azula even more. The only thing that really kept her around was Ty Lee... and fear.

_You know what, no. I'm not going to help Azula._ She could kill the avatar herself, but Mai wasn't going to take part in it any longer. She wasn't going to take Azula's orders anymore. Mai could make her own decisions, and she wasn't going to be pushed around anymore. Screw Azula.

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Zuko and Katara patiently waited for the shift change to be completed. This was perfect. No one would come by until morning, giving the benders more than enough time to escape with Iroh. The two guards they had seen earlier had walked into the prison about five minutes ago, during which time Zuko thought things over. First he planned out exactly how they would rescue his uncle. He had already told Katara his plan, which was really quite simple. Walk in, take out the guards, steal the keys, open the cell, and walk out. The hard part would have been going unnoticed, but the teens had the luckiest timing ever. Zuko noticed that his luck had done a complete 180 when he had joined the avatar, and wondered how big a factor karma actually was. It had to have been a pretty big one.

So now that the planning was done, Zuko's mind drifted toward his waterbending companion, despite his efforts to focus. Zuko had absolutely no idea why he found it so easy to talk to the girl. Normally he didn't even open up like that to his uncle, and he had really only known this girl for two and a half weeks. The firebender couldn't help but wonder how much he trusted and cared about the girl, and why. Did he like her? Of course he did, but how much did he like her? She was very kind and trusting and she knew how to take care of herself (as well as a ragtag group of kids). These were all things that Zuko admired about her, but she also had a short fuse and was very stubborn. This would have been worse if it wasn't for the fact that Zuko was the same way. Perhaps the most important thing was that she accepted him, in spite of everything he had done to her and her friends. Not to mention, she was definitely attractive.

Okay, so Zuko liked her as more than a friend. He decided that this was not a good thing considering that Katara was the avatar's girl. He promised himself that he would never act on his feelings, and he wouldn't do anything to give himself away.

Katara suddenly elbowed Zuko in the ribs. He looked up and saw two different guards exiting the prison. After waiting for them to get completely out of sight, Zuko and Katara took off toward the prison. With a quick melting of the lock, they were in. Zuko took the lead and Katara followed him down a winding set of halls. She ran right into his back when Zuko stopped suddenly. He looked around the corner to see the two guards standing outside a group of cells. That must be where they were holding Iroh. The idiots were facing the other way, so Zuko quickly knocked both of them unconscious with two hard hits to the back of the head using the hilt of his broadswords. He found the keys and grabbed them before telling Katara the coast was clear. Zuko scanned the cells before landing on the one his uncle was in. He sprinted to the cell and immediately started trying keys. "Uncle! I was so worried about you! Are you okay?"

Zuko finally found the right key and opened the door to the cell. He embraced his uncle as soon as he had set foot in the small cage-like room. "I'm fine nephew, I'm glad to see that you are as well."

They continued to talk but Katara stopped listening in order to give them a little privacy. Her eyes roamed the dank row of cells before she saw one that had a prisoner. Katara walked over to the bars and saw that the prisoner was a girl. She had brown hair and appeared to be around Katara's age. Katara could have sworn she recognized the girl from somewhere when the prisoner turned over and faced the waterbender.

"Suki?"

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**A/N: Once again guys I am so sorry! I swear I won't do that again! Anyway, I know that the Mai scene seems pointless, but it will be somewhat important later on. There was originally another scene with Aang in this chapter, but it was really stupid and pointless. There will be more Taang next chapter, as well as some actual Zutara action. They are just now realizing their more-than-friends feelings, so there hasn't been much romance yet. Zuko was really angsty at the beginning, but that's Zuko. Anyway, I hope you all liked my late chapter, but I'll post again tomorrow, this time for sure.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**A/N: Here is chapter seven, updated when I said. Um, I re-read my last chapter again, and Zuko was a little over the top. Sorry. Also, Katara had told him that she wasn't romantically involved with Aang, so the reason Zuko didn't want to make any moves on her was because he didn't want Aang to be mad at him. I think I made it seem like Zuko thought Katara liked Aang as well. Sorry about that too. Hopefully chapter eight will be up by Saturday or Sunday. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I claim nothing. Nothing but Dis idea. Get it? I claim Dis? ...Yeah alright, sorry.**

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"Katara? Is that you?" Suki got up and walked over to the bars of her cell. Zuko and Iroh stopped talking and looked over.

"You know her?" Zuko seemed suspicious of Suki, as though she was actually a Fire Nation spy. Of course, prisoners of the Fire Nation weren't on his list of people to trust immediately. That consisted of... nobody whatsoever.

"This is Suki. She's the leader of the Kyoshi warriors and a good friend of ours. She's also Sokka's girlfriend."

"You should remember me; you're the one who burned down my village!" Oh, right. Oops.

Katara walked over and grabbed the keys from Zuko as he shuffled his feet and rubbed the back of his neck. Both were clear signs that he was uncomfortable, which usually meant he would do something stupid. "Oh, right... Nice seeing you again." That pretty much qualified.

"Zuko is on our side now, Suki. He is going to teach Aang firebending and help us with the invasion." Katara unlocked the cell and was promptly embraced by her friend.

"Are you sure we can trust him? He _is_ the prince of the Fire Nation." Zuko wasn't sure that he wanted to hear the answer to this question, but he had been meaning to ask it himself.

"Zuko has already proven himself. He's on our side and I trust him." Zuko hated how much that meant to him. He was developing a weak spot for this girl and her opinion was way too important to him. Nonetheless, he was relieved that Katara at least claimed to trust him.

"Why don't we all take the time to catch up and explain later? I'm sure that getting out of here quickly would be helpful to our escape." Iroh had finally joined the conversation, and he effectively ended it as well.

"I agree, we need to get out of here before we get caught."

Zuko led the small group out of the prison as fast as they could go.

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Sokka couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was like every star in the sky was running from something. There were hundreds of shooting stars flying across the sky at super high speeds. He, Aang and Toph had been setting up camp when it had started, but all three were sitting and watching it now. "Wow, that's incredible. I've never seen anything like it."

"It is pretty cool, huh?" Aang was also completely mesmerized by all of the streaking lights.

"Eh, you haven't seen one thing; you've seen 'em all." Toph had never been a fan of cool looking things.

"You've never not seen anything like this." As soon as Sokka said this a small meteorite came flying over their heads. It went crashing to the ground about a half mile ahead of them with a blinding explosion. Aang and Sokka both used their arms to shield their eyes with a "Whoa!" Then they saw that the meteorite had started a fire, and that there was a small village up ahead in front of it. The fire was quickly spreading to the small wooden houses in the distance.

"We have to put out the fire!" Aang was already hopping on Appa, and Toph and Sokka joined him shortly after. They flew toward the crash site, and Aang used his Airbending to blow out as much of the fire as he could. He used some water he had collected from the clouds to douse the still-burning meteorite. Toph used her earthbending to put out the as much of the fire as she could by flipping large slabs of rock onto the flames.

Sokka… was watching. There wasn't exactly mush that he could do. His boomerang was not a lot of help when it came to stopping fires. Momo landed on his shoulder as he watched Appa put out the flames with his tail. "At least I'm not the only one who is completely useless." At this Momo took off, grabbed the water the Gaang had been using to wash clothes, and emptied it on top of the fire. _Wow, the flying lemur is more helpful than I am._ Sokka did the only thing he could do, sit back and watch.

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Azula had finally arrived at the My Lai forest, and she figured that she had about six days before the avatar would arrive. It seemed like a lot of time, but the princess needed everything to be absolutely perfect. She had to be perfect in order to keep the bald monk from escaping this time. She was going to look around and figure out exactly what the terrain was like so that she could devise a plan.

Ty Lee was left with the airship crew, who were currently unloading everything before they flew the airship to a hidden location and walked back to the camp. She was a bit worried. Azula had been getting angrier and angrier, and Mai still hadn't replied to the princess. Ty Lee was also worried that her friend was going insane. Her fuse was even shorter than it had been before, which was saying quite a bit. She blew up at small things and wasn't nearly as collected and level-headed as she had been before. Ty Lee couldn't remember the princess ever acting like this. It was scary to think that her childhood friend was becoming so… cold.

Azula hadn't ever been one to show emotion, except rage and hatred, but now it was like the princess was going out of her way to avoid her emotions entirely. Ty Lee knew that Azula was angry with herself, but she wondered how much of it was due to the Firelord's disappointment. Ozai had been very pleased with Azula's take-over of Ba Sing Se, but he was very angry once he learned that the avatar had survived. Azula wanted to stay at the palace, but her father sent her away. It was obvious that Azula had always aimed to please her father, but Ty Lee didn't think that she would react this badly to a small failure. Azula had taken down a city that had been standing through one hundred years of war, but was losing her mind over a child surviving her attack.

Azula's new obsession with killing the boy wasn't healthy, and Ty Lee was worried that it would affect the princess' ability to work properly. She wasn't getting enough sleep, and it looked as though she was losing control of herself. It was a bit ironic that someone who had always dreamed of controlling everything could no longer control her own anger.

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After Aang and Toph had put out the fire, the group had finished setting up camp and gone to sleep for the night. They decided to try goi8ng into town again, and they were currently eating lunch at a small restaurant. But there was something terribly, horribly wrong… Sokka wasn't eating! Both of his bending companions knew it, and they knew that it meant something must have been very wrong. "Uh Snoozles, are you sick or something, you haven't touched your food."

"I'm not hungry." Aang's eyes went wide as Toph's jaw hit the floor. He wasn't even lying.

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Sokka?" Aang laughed as Toph poked the warrior's shoulder accusingly. Sokka swatted her hand away and turned his head.

"Haha, very funny Toph. It's not like I'm hungry _all_ of the time." That time he was lying and everyone knew it.

"Seriously Sokka, what's wrong? You've been really quiet all day, and you've never turned down meat. Are you still worried about Katara? I'm sure she's alright, she knows how to take care of herself."

"Of course I'm worried about Katara, but that isn't the problem. I just feel like I'm kind of useless to you guys some times. I mean, you all have these incredible abilities that make you special. I'm just Sokka, the meat and sarcasm guy." He seemed really depressed, but Toph either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Actually, right now you're the whiny annoying guy." Aang shot her an unseen glare before he spoke up.

"Sokka, you've been a huge part of this team from the beginning. You're the one who is making the plans for the invasion, and you have been like a leader to us from the beginning."

"What about in the desert when he was out of his mind on cactus juice. He wasn't much of a-" Aang bent the ground under her chair making it lurch forward and sending Toph face first into her meal. He was going to pay for that later, but it had the desired effect of shutting the blind earthbender up.

"What Toph is trying to say is, you are incredibly important to this team. We couldn't have made it nearly this far if it wasn't for you, and just because you can't bend doesn't mean you can't fight." Sokka didn't respond, he just stared blankly into his rapidly-cooling plate of untouched food.

"If you are really that upset, you could always get a new weapon, something more useful than a boomerang at least." Finally Toph said something helpful and **almost** nice. Sokka perked up at this statement, and the group went off in search of a weapons shop.

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"What do you mean you aren't coming with us? Where are you going to go, what are you going to do? We just broke you out of prison, uncle. You can't just leave us." Zuko and Iroh were talking alone as Suki and Katara were finishing up a small meal. They had been travelling for a few hours and they had about two more until sunrise. They had agreed that travelling through the night and the next day was the best thing for them to do. This would mean that Zuko and Katara would be going a day and a half without sleep, but both were far too stubborn to complain.

Iroh had been making a pot of tea while telling Zuko of his plan to bring the Order of the White Lotus together. Zuko was pissed at the thought of his uncle leaving them to play Pai Sho with a bunch of old men, so Iroh explained to him that they would actually be helping the war effort. "And how exactly are a bunch of old tea-loving gasbags going to help win the war. I seriously doubt that Ozai will bet the throne on a stupid game." Zuko had been calling his father Ozai for about a week now. The man didn't deserve the title of Firelord or father, so Ozai it was.

"Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me, nephew? Besides, I want to give you a little alone time with your new friend." His tone changed at the word friend. Zuko was too angry to notice right away.

"It doesn't matter whether or not I have a reason to doubt you and… wait a minute. What are you talking about? What do you mean by 'friend'?" Zuko did his best to imitate his uncle's voice and to hide the blush forming on his cheeks. The old man could always read Zuko like a book, but how he saw that Zuko liked the waterbender was beyond him. Maybe it was just a lucky guess.

"I think you know exactly what I mean. Zuko, I am going to leave, but I will find you as soon as the eclipse is over. Thank you for breaking me out of prison, but I need to do everything I can to help end this war, and so do you. That means that our paths must split, but we will not be apart for too terribly long. You need to teach the avatar firebending, though you have one lesson to learn from me before you do." Zuko was completely shocked by his uncle for wanting to leave, but, as usual, the man had a point. The prince knew that his uncle was almost always right, so he decided that he would listen to him. He hadn't listened to his uncle much in the past, and look where that had gotten him.

"Fine uncle, if that's what you think is best. And Katara and I are just friends."

"Whatever you say nephew."

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Katara and Suki were talking about things while they cooked. After covering everything that had happened, they moved on to talking about other things, mostly Sokka. Suki was excited to see her boyfriend after so much time apart. She had been really worried about him during her stay in prison. Iroh approached and handed each of the girls a cup of tea. "That smells wonderful."

"It will be done in a few minutes, General Iroh. We'll call you over as soon as it is finished." Katara sipped her tea, which was the best tea she had ever tasted. It wasn't even her favorite kind, but she hadn't drank tea too often anyway.

"Please, just call me uncle. I retired a long time ago." Iroh turned and walked back to his nephew to begin their lesson. He smiled to himself; Zuko had chosen a very polite young lady. She was very pretty as well. Iroh was going to have a lot of fun before he left.

Katara and Suki resumed their conversation. "So how are things with you and Aang? Are you guys together yet?"

Katara hadn't been expecting that question. Why did everyone think she liked Aang? "Why would Aang and I be together?"

"It just seemed like you two had a thing. He definitely likes you, so I guess you must not like him back?" Katara felt her face heating up, but she had known that Aang liked her. It was the fact that she was beginning to like someone else that made her blush.

"I love Aang, but more like a brother than anything else. I just feel like if I tell him, it will make him hate me. I don't want to hurt him." Suki noticed that Katara had quickly glanced at Zuko as she said this, and she began to wonder if the waterbender had feelings for someone else.

"Aang wouldn't hate you. Yes, he would be a bit hurt, but you can't lead the poor kid on. You can't force yourself to like him if that isn't the way you actually feel. Besides, you should probably go after the guy you actually like anyway." Katara was about to ask her what she meant by that but Suki called Zuko and Iroh over to eat. Katara would have to ask later.

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Sokka approached the large gates and mentally prepared himself. He still didn't know why he was actually going through with this. He had been trying out weapons in a store when someone had told him about a swords master that lived just outside the village. Sokka thought that since everyone else had gotten a master to teach them, it was his turn. Now he was about to ask a Fire Nation man if he would be willing to teach him swordsmanship. Sokka just couldn't imagine this turning out well. He took a deep breath to prepare himself, and he knocked on the gate.

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Since Sokka was off seeking the tutelage of some sword master, Toph and Aang were alone. Toph had already gotten Aang back for the food incident by burying him up to his head in earth and making him apologize one hundred times. Now they were just talking.

"So Twinkletoes, have you decided on whether or not you are going to master the avatar state?" Her real question was: Are you going to let go of Katara? She just wanted to make it look like his relationship with Katara didn't concern her at all.

"I think so, but I don't know for sure. I want to master the avatar state; there will be time for relationships after the war. But at the same time, I don't want to hurt Katara. How am I supposed to let her go without making her feel bad?" Aang was making one bad assumption: that Katara felt the same way about him. Toph decided that pointing that out wouldn't help much, so she answered his question.

"I think that Sugar Queen would understand. She knows how important this war is, and she knows that your responsibility to the world comes first. You're just going to have to tell her. She knows that her feelings aren't as important as people's lives." Toph tried not to sound too careless toward Katara's feelings, but she really couldn't help it. It was tough to be concerned with the girl who was in her way.

"I guess, but it is still going to hurt her. I can't stand the thought of hurting Katara." Aang cared about the waterbender so much that it hurt _Toph_. She knew he liked her, but this seemed a bit overboard.

"Well Aang, that is a decision that I can't make for you. I would probably just tell her and move on, but I guess I don't mind hurting people's feelings as much as you do. You can't make everyone happy all of the time and you are going to have to accept that at some point." Toph decided that a subject change was necessary, so she tried one. "How do you think Sokka is doing?"

"I'm sure he's fine." Momo landed between the two and dropped some leachy nuts before flying away to look for more. Aang and Toph began to eat as they continued their conversation. They both reached for the last of the leachy nuts and their hands met each other. They stayed that way for about a second before rapidly withdrawing their hands. Toph looked away to hide her blush. She thought she could feel Aang's heartbeat speed up, but it was hard to tell over the vibrations from her own.

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The day had gone by very quickly for Katara. She had spent the entire trip talking to Suki. There was still an awkward tension between her and Zuko, plus Zuko was in a bad mood. His uncle had left after they had eaten, and Zuko had not spoken more than five words since. Katara and Suki talked about the plans for the invasion, about their families, about Sokka, and about other random things when they ran out of topics. Katara thought that it was nice to have another girl her age to talk to, but kind of missed her conversations with Zuko. They were really getting close, and Katara wanted to learn more about the prince. She wanted to know why he was banished, how he got his scar and what had happened to his mother, but those were very touchy subjects with Zuko.

To Zuko, the day had been one of the longest of his life. He hated listening to the girls talk about all of their pointless stuff, and he was still angry with his uncle. Not to mention the fact that he was about ready to collapse from exhaustion. To make things worse, now he couldn't even get to sleep. He was sitting by the fire trying to figure out what it was that kept him from a blissful night of well-deserved rest when Katara approached. She sat down next to him. "You couldn't sleep either?"

"I think it's because of my uncle. I thought he was going to stay with us." Zuko still hadn't told Katara what he had learned from the soldiers about the Fire Nation's plans for the eclipse or about Azula chasing Aang again, but decided it could wait.

"I know how you feel. I hated leaving my dad again after being together for only two weeks. It sucks." There she went, comforting him yet again. Zuko turned to look at her.

"Your father is a good man. I know he wishes that you could be together all the time. He really loves you and your brother." Zuko really respected Hakoda; he was a great leader, a loving father, and a good person. Everything _his father_ wasn't.

Katara detected a bit of hurt in Zuko's voice, but it was fairly obvious that he was on bad terms with his own dad. "I know your uncle loves you just as much. And your father is stupid for not caring about you. You are a far better person than your dad will ever be." Katara looked up and met the prince's eyes.

Zuko knew he was losing his mind as soon as he started, but whether it was from exhaustion, missing his uncle, or purely because he wanted to, Zuko went for it.

He closed his eyes, leaned in, and…

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**A/N: I know I'm evil. This chapter is short, but I thought that was a good place to end it. Don't hate me for sending away Iroh (I deserve to be hated for the cliffhanger), he will be back soon. What happens next, will Katara smack him away, run away scared, hate him forever, or kiss him back? Or maybe they will be together, everyone will be happy, Ozai will end the war and no one will ever be hurt again. That wouldn't be any fun, so it's definitely not the last one. Let the Hate-reviews commence! (Nice ones are okay too)**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**A/N: WOW! I got ten reviews for the last chapter. TEN! I was going to update earlier because of that, but the college football season started yesterday, so anyone who knows me knows that I was completely useless. Technically it started Thursday, but that wasn't as important. Sorry, all of my awesome readers deserved an earlier update, especially after that cliffhanger. This is another short chapter, but they will go back to being longer from now on. Btw, I could never tell whether Aang kissed Katara in the cave of two lovers, so I am going to assume he didn't. If they did kiss, pretend they didn't. Anyway, here is chapter 8!**

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Everything was blurry. Her mind was spinning. She had no idea what was happening, just that she really liked it.

Katara's mind slowly kicked into gear. She opened her eyes to find that she was being kissed by Zuko... And she was kissing him back. It was her first kiss and it was much better than she had expected. It was fiery and passionate, but she was too tired to comprehend or enjoy it completely.

Suddenly, the waterbender's blue eyes shot wide open and she flung the prince off of her and onto the ground. She wrapped her arms around herself and turned away. She didn't want to face Zuko when she spoke. "Zuko, I-I don't th-" she was lucky Zuko cut her off because she had no idea what to say.

"I'm sorry." He sounded more depressed than Katara had ever heard him. "I don't know what came over me. I guess I'm just tired, and... y'know." That was probably the lamest excuse ever. Luckily for him, Katara needed time to think, so she went with the pathetic excuse.

"Yeah, long day. We both just need some rest."

"Yeah, definitely. So um, I guess I'll just... go to bed. See you in the morning." Zuko all but sprinted to bed, not even waiting for a response. _What the hell was that? You idiot! You can't do this! Why are you screwing up the first friendship you've ever had? What is wrong with you? Agh!_ Zuko continued screaming at himself for ten more minutes before falling asleep.

Katara was still in the same place, trying to figure out what had just taken place. She lightly touched her lips and noticed that she actually missed the feel of Zuko's lips on hers.

_Why did you kiss him back?_ The voice she thought this in sounded a lot like Sokka's.

_Because I wanted to. Right?_

_No, he's Zuko. ZU-KO. You can't be with him; you don't want to be with him._

_But I do like him._

_That's not important._

_But what if I want to be with him?_

The argument she was having with herself was giving her a headache, so she decided to figure it out tomorrow morning. Katara went to bed smiling, and her dreams were filled with happy visions of a future with Zuko.

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Sokka was ecstatic. Today he was going to actually train with swords. After being accepted by Master Piandao, he had spent the entire day wasting time painting and writing his name. He thought it was insanely stupid, but wasn't willing to risk losing his golden opportunity to learn sword fighting. He knocked on the large metal gates and waved to Piandao's servant.

Sokka was given a wooden sword to begin training, and he spent the next five hours learning basic forms. He was very fast at picking them up, his father had taught him a bit when he was younger, not to mention he had a natural talent for fighting. Sokka's ability to innovate and out-think his opponents gave him a huge advantage in normal fights. He was already at the level of defeating Piandao's best student.

"Very impressive. You have improved remarkably quickly. You are ready to make your own sword." Sokka smiled and bowed in return before following the master to pick out the metal for his sword.

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The day was passing slower than Toph could have possibly imagined, with Sokka not there for her to make fun of. Aang was attempting to prepare some type of soup for dinner, but Toph already knew she wasn't going to eat it. Dinner made her miss Katara more than anything, one more night of Sokka's cooking would probably kill her. Aang's was only a small step up. It was like the two boys were trying to make her throw up.

"It's ready!" Aang approached her wearing a smile from ear-to-ear. He was holding out a bowl of liquid that smelled like Appa's feet... or worse, Sokka's. She immediately slapped the bowl out of the airbender's hands, spilling the rancid soup all over the ground. Toph would have laughed at Aang's change of expressions had she been able to see it. The boy went from looking overjoyed, to shocked, to horrified and then to almost crying within one second.

"What was THAT? It smelled like you cooked Momo in the water that washed Sokka's socks. Are you trying to kill me? If you don't want to train that badly just say so, Twinkletoes!" Aang started back to eat his own dinner, he was a bit hurt that Toph wouldn't even try it. "Oh, that reminds me... Training time!"

Toph threw a rock at Aang who side-stepped with his back still turned. He spun around to face his opponent and the two started by tossing multiple rocks back-and-forth. "Hey guys!"

Aang turned to greet Sokka and was hit in the face by six rocks, one after the other. He fell down with an "Oof!" as Toph pointed and laughed at him.

"Might want to stay focused next time, huh Twinks?" Sokka had joined Toph in her laughter as Aang stood up. He was a bit dazed, but managed to trip Sokka with a quick earthbending move. The warrior fell face-first into what was left of Aang's meal, causing Aang to start laughing and Toph to begin rolling on the ground.

"Ehhh, ewww. Did you have to trip me into Appa's bathing water?"

"That was my soup." Aang said this in the most defeated and saddened voice Toph had ever heard, causing her to begin crying and clutching her sides. Sokka always had a way of making life funnier.

"Look guys, I need your help. I want to make my sword out of the meteorite."

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Katara woke up the next morning feeling relaxed and refreshed. She got dressed and walked outside. Suki was making breakfast and Zuko was going through some firebending forms.

Zuko.

Katara figured it would be best to act like nothing had ever happened until Suki was gone and the two benders could have some time alone to talk things through. That wouldn't be too hard seeing as all Zuko did was avoid the Kyoshi warrior. Katara would just talk to Suki all day. "Good morning Suki, how did you sleep?"

"Really well, not being in a Fire Nation prison does wonders for my peace of mind." Suki smiled as she presented Katara with a small but delicious looking meal. Katara looked up to thank her and was shocked to see Zuko approaching them.

"Uh, Katara... There's something we need to talk about." Was he serious? Zuko wasn't one to confront problems by talking them through; she had thought that the firebender would have to be tied down to talk about the night before.

"Okay..." Suki noticed Katara's voice sounded worried, but Katara simply followed Zuko away to talk. "What do you want to talk about?" She tried to pretend like she didn't know the answer, which was pretty easy considering the fact that she didn't.

"Well before we rescued my uncle and Suki, I overheard those two guards talking about the Fire Nation's plans for the eclipse. I didn't tell you earlier because I didn't want you to freak out and blow out cover." Katara hadn't been expecting this, but she continued to listen to Zuko talk. "Apparently they are building a bunker somewhere nearby, so we are going to have to find it. Also, Azula left the palace to chase Aang down again, but I have no idea where she is."

Katara wasn't sure which news was worse. Azula could have already gotten Aang, which meant that they had lost, but a secret bunker meant that the invasion plan was likely to fail. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"I guess we just hope that Azula hasn't found Aang yet and we work on a revised invasion plan when we re-join the others."

"Okay, let's get moving. We need to be in the My Lai forest in six days. That's when the others will get there. Then we are going to slowly make our way to the meeting point for the invasion. You and Sokka can work out new details while we travel. Are we going to be able to reach the forest in six days?"

"Yeah, if we walk at the pace we got here at, we could be there in four." Zuko left to pack up his things as Katara told Suki that they were leaving. The two girls got everything packed up in three minutes time, and the group set off.

Suki noticed that Katara and Zuko were avoiding each other, and Katara blushed every time she looked in his direction. "What did you guys talk about?"

"What, oh, nothing. Zuko overheard some guards talking about Azula chasing Aang and some plan for the invasion. That's why we left so quickly." Katara looked at Zuko and their eyes met briefly. Both turned away immediately with dark red faces. There {had} to be something going on with them.

"So what's with you and Zuko, are you guys together or something?" Katara blushed worse, and she responded way too quickly.

"Are you crazy? Me and Zuko? That's ridiculous Suki. We're just friends. Why would I want to be with him?" Katara was talking far faster than normal and she seemed incredibly flustered.

"Wow Katara, I can't believe you like Zuko. The prince of the Fire Nation. I'm sure Sokka doesn't like that." Suki smirked at her friend's obvious discomfort. She was a terrible liar and she couldn't hide her emotions at all.

"No Sokka doesn't know." A few seconds later Katara continued. "There is nothing for Sokka to know. We are just friends. Just. Friends."

"Yeah, okay Katara." Suki was going to have a lot of fun with this. The long walk to My Lai just got a lot more interesting.

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"No, this is my fight." Sokka was standing face to face with Piandao. Aang and Toph had been ready to help but Sokka wanted to do it on his own. Piandao jabbed and Sokka blocked it easily, slashing back at his opponents arm. Blows were dodged and parried back and forth, Sokka using speed and agility to dodge all the blows sent his way while Piandao effortlessly blocked the few jabs Sokka managed to send back.

Sokka attempted to gain the upper hand with his superior quickness by blocking a slash and sliding under his opponent's legs. He then turned and slashed at Piandao's back, but his sword was met halfway. He barely managed to get out of the way of a kick sent his way by spinning off to his left. Sokka sprang to his feet and closed the gap on his opponent. "Well done, using your youth to your advantage. Good."

Sokka rolled away after a quick slice missed his head by about three inches. He retreated to a set of stone stairs and waited for the master to close in. He jumped off the side of the stairs and jabbed at Piandao's shoulder, but was knocked away at the last second. It took two perfectly timed blocks to make up for the awkward landing, but Sokka was on his feet and dodging more and more attacks. "Very nicely done, using your surroundings to gain the upper-hand. Smart."

Sokka started to realize that the man wasn't trying his hardest, but he also knew that the master was not to be taken lightly. The man was Fire Nation after all. Sokka retreated through a small area of bamboo plants, cutting them down as he went. Piandao pursued and sliced his way through the falling foliage. Sokka was definitely a skilled fighter.

Sokka turned to face his opponent once again, but this time he planned to rid the man of his weapon. Sokka didn't dodge blows, choosing to block them and attempt to dislodge the sword from its master instead. His plan was not successful, and he was forced to retreat yet again. This time, he used the blade of his sword to fling dirt into the other man's eyes. "Very nice move Sokka, I'm impressed."

Sokka tried to sneak around the older man as silently as he could, but made a slight sound while stepping awkwardly. Piandao heard this and chose that time to strike. In one swift movement he managed to close in on Sokka, disarm him, knock him onto his back and hold the sword to his neck.

Aang was about to step in when Piandao pulled back his sword and blindly caught it in its sheath. "Very well done Sokka, I'm impressed. You have learned a lot in very little time. You are one of the best students I have ever had." He picked up and handed Sokka the Space Sword and bowed to him.

"Wait, you're not mad? I'm not even Fire Nation."

"True, but I have known that since you arrived. I would use Lee as a cover name from now on, there are a million Lees. Besides, it is an honor to teach a friend of the avatar." He turned and bowed to Aang, who was in as much shock as Sokka was. "You see Sokka; the way of the sword belongs to everyone, not one nation alone. Not all of us support the war you know."

Sokka finally picked his jaw off the floor and bowed. "Thank you, master." As the Gaang turned to leave, Piandao's servant approached them with a small sack. Inside was Pai Sho tile, the white lotus.

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Suki had gotten bored with Katara and had decided to talk to Zuko. Katara had resorted to the silent treatment when Suki had refused to stop asking questions about her relationship with Zuko. Katara refused to say anything about it, other than "We are just friends, Suki. You really need to drop it."

Of course, it was fairly obvious that she was lying. Every time she glanced at Zuko her face turned red and her mouth twitched upward as she suppressed a smile. It was pathetic how obvious she was being, but Zuko made no signs of acknowledgement. He only spoke to her when it was necessary, and be always faced away from her. So Suki decided that she was going to get to the bottom of it all. She caught up with the firebender and began to talk to him. "Hey Zuko."

"Uh, hi Suki." Zuko still felt bad about burning down her village, but he hadn't apologized. He didn't generally apologize for anything. He was a bit surprised and a lot worried that the warrior was talking to him so casually. It had to mean that something was up.

"So how has your rescue mission gone?"

Zuko couldn't bite back the sarcastic retort in time. "Well considering we rescued you and my uncle, I'd say we pretty much failed miserably." He figured that pissing off the girl wasn't a good way to make amends, but he did it anyway. Surprisingly enough, Suki laughed.

"I meant the actual trip. It must have been pretty bad travelling with Katara that whole time."

"It wasn't that bad. She can be annoying, but she was fine for the most part." Zuko was starting to be confused as to where this discussion was headed.

"Yeah, with a bonding experience like that you might even say you two had a chance to get close."

"I guess... It is nice to have at least one friend when you are fighting a war against your own people." What was she getting at?

"That's not exactly what I meant. You two could have gotten closer than that. You've been with her for over three weeks now." Zuko was either stupid or good at acting it. Either way, Suki hadn't gotten anything out of him.

"I guess we could have, but we didn't. We are just friends, if that's what you're getting at." What made her think that he had something going on with Katara. He hadn't done anything to give it away. Katara was probably back there telling Suki about how he kissed her.

"Then why did you two kiss?"

"Why did she tell you that?"

"She didn't. You just did though. Thanks Zuko." Suki had a grin on her face that reminded Zuko of his uncle. It must be some sort of mischievous smile thing or something. Maybe she got it from Iroh in prison. Not that any of that mattered.

"Wait; please don't tell her I told you. We still haven't talked about it and it is really awkward." Suki's smile widened, and now it reminded the prince of his sister. It looked scarily devious, and Zuko did {not} like it.

"I won't tell her, today. If you two haven't talked about it by tomorrow morning that is all we will be talking about." Suki walked away without another word from the prince. She was still mad at him and she had already gotten what she wanted. Now Zuko had to think of how he was going to explain himself. He could tell the truth and get rejected. The blow to his pride would be huge, plus it would probably make things awkward. He could make up some excuse and say he didn't like her, but then he risked making the waterbender angry. He could say that he was just tired and didn't mean anything by it, but with his skill with words, she would probably end up hating him forever.

It was going to be an interesting night.

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"Goodnight guys, I think I'm going to go to bed. It's getting late and I'm still recovering from my lengthy stay in prison. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Suki," Katara said as her friend went to bed smiling evilly. She sat around the campfire alone with Zuko. She knew they had to talk about it eventually. "So, how are you doing?"

"Can we just get this over with?" Zuko noticed that this made Katara a bit angrier, and decided that it would be best to soften his voice up a bit. "I meant, let's just cut to the chase."

"Okay, fine. Why did you kiss me?" That was a bit more direct than he had expected.

"Why did you kiss me back?" That was immature.

"I asked first." Also very childish.

"And I asked second." What were they, two? This was just pathetic.

"Zuko just tell me."

"Fine." He took a deep breath, preparing to actually open up about his feelings and put it all on the line. Then he wussed out. "I was really tired and confused. You looked really good 'cause I wasn't very awake." That would be the wrong thing to say... as usual.

"Oh, and I suppose I'm just hideous normally. I guess I'm just not good enough for you, is that it _prince_ Zuko?" She sounded really hurt.

"No, that's not what I meant at all... And why do you care so much?"

Katara wasn't prepared for that question, so anger it was. "You are calling me ugly, of course I care. No girl likes being called ugly, moron."

Zuko knew that he should just give up now, but his stupid pride got in the way yet again. "I'm not saying that you're ugly. And I am not a moron."

"Yes you are. Who kisses someone because they're tired? I'll tell you who, morons!" Zuko smirked. She walked into this one.

"So I assume you kissed me back for a different reason then?"

Katara's eyes widened. She hadn't seen that coming either. Why did she have to kiss that jerk back? "I... I... I felt bad for you." It was the best she could think of.

Zuko actually smiled a full smile. A happy smile. "No you didn't, you wanted to kiss me. You like me, don't you?"

"Well, I... I did before I knew how big of a jerk you are." His smile widened, pissing off the waterbender even more. "You just think you're so great with you-"

Katara was cut off by Zuko's lips crashing into her own. He wrapped his hands around her waist and she melted into him, wrapping her arms around his head. He pushed her back and looked into her eyes.

"I think I like you too, Katara."

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**A/N: Sappy, Cheesy, Corny. I can't think of any more. I need more words to describe that pathetic last scene. I suck too badly to rewrite it too. Oh well, whatever. I'm a bit sad because my team lost their season opener, but there were some positives. Oh well. Anyway, despite the suckishness of this last scene, I actually liked this chapter. I'm finishing it at 5:30a.m. but still. I think the fight is better (btw it is not supposed to be the exact same as the show, fight or word wise) and I kinda liked the dinner scene. But again, 5:30. So I don't really know. Tell me what you think. Also, I am going to get the first chapter of my other fic posted before I to another one for this, but it is already like 3/4 done so it won't delay this too long. Thanks again for all of the great reviews, and I hope you guys enjoyed me making a mockery of any romantic scene ever written.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**A/N: Wow, this is my tenth chapter! I hit the forty review mark, which puts me way ahead of where I planned to be by this point. My goal was fifty reviews for this story total, but now I want to double that by the end. More importantly, here is chapter 9! Hope you like it!**

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Zuko woke up feeling better than he had in... well, ever. He still couldn't quite believe that Katara liked him, but as usual, there were problems. Both of them wanted to at least try being together, but they knew that it wouldn't go over well with the others. Aang would be crushed, Sokka's head would probably explode (which was perfectly fine by Zuko), and Toph would give them crap about it for the rest of their lives. They decided to wait until they could work things out with everyone else.

This was not an idea that Zuko was fond of. He had opened up to someone who returned the feelings he had for her, and Zuko wanted to go for it. He wanted to actually start trusting people, developing relationships, and living his life. Basically Zuko wanted to do everything he hadn't been able to do before. But he also understood that there would be consequences, and he couldn't afford to be selfish. He still had to earn the trust of both Aang and Sokka.

As long as he didn't concentrate on that, Zuko was in a great mood. Adding to his happiness was the fact that they were way ahead of schedule. Travelling through the night before had put them much farther than he had guessed, and he had overestimated the distance to the My Lai forest. In fact, He, Suki and Katara could arrive by midday if they kept their current pace up. The only problem was that this would put them five days ahead of their companions, but he didn't mind the idea of spending five days with Suki and Katara.

He actually kind of liked Suki; she was smart, kind and incredibly talented. He hadn't actually seen her fight, but based on Katara's testimony, the girl was one of the best warriors in the world. Zuko wanted to test her hand to hand combat skills at some point; maybe she could give him a run for his money. He always liked having a little competition because it made him work a lot harder. Zuko was definitely a competitive guy.

He walked out of his tent and began to go through his basic firebending stances. He was concentrating on what his uncle had taught him before he left. Firebending was supposed to be fueled by one's drive, not their anger and rage. This made Zuko happy, he hadn't been as angry recently and he had been worried that his firebending would weaken. He had a drive, and he knew his destiny. He was going to help Aang defeat the Firelord and save the world.

As Zuko was finishing up the basics, Katara walked outside of her tent. She was used to getting up early to cook breakfast for the Gaang, but Zuko was always up earlier than her. The prince definitely rose with the sun.

She looked over and saw Zuko going through some basic moves, and she decided that she wanted to spar with the firebender. She hadn't practiced much recently and she wanted to know whether or not she could kick his butt. "Hey Zuko, can I practice with you?"

"Uh, sure. If you want to. You wanna spar or just practice?" Zuko wasn't surprised at her request, just that she hadn't wanted to fight him earlier. He knew that Katara was as competitive as he was and assumed that she wanted to know who was better.

"Let's do a little sparring, but no holding back." Zuko smirked. She definitely wanted to know who was better, and so did he.

"Sounds good, but it is morning. I have a huge advantage over you and I want to win this fair and square."

"Well, you aren't going to win, but if you do we can spar again tonight. That way I'll have the advantage." She walked over to the tent she shares with Suki and woke the Kyoshi Warrior. "Zuko and I are going to have a sparring match, we will be back soon."

Suki groaned in response and pulled her pillow over her head. It was still too early for normal people to be waking up. Katara led Zuko to a nearby stream and stripped down to her bending outfit. She turned to face Zuko, who was facing the other way. "What are you doing Katara? I thought we were going to spar. You don't have to take your clothes off!" Katara laughed at him.

"This is my bending outfit. I train Aang like this all the time. It's no big deal." Zuko turned around to face her with dark red cheeks. He kept his eyes pointedly higher than her head, making sure they didn't stray to... lower places.

"So you teach the kid how to waterbend in that?" She nodded. "And yet you wonder why he likes you so much." This made Katara blush. She hadn't thought it was a big deal. They weren't that revealing, were they?

"Can we just start already?" Zuko took a stance in response. She found it odd that as soon as he began fighting he was no longer awkward at all. It was like fighting was Zuko's ultimate comfort zone. Katara drew a water whip and shot it at Zuko. He effortlessly dissolved it and sent a stream of fire back her way.

The two exchanged light warm up blows for about five minutes. Then Katara decided to step it up a bit. She shot two jets of water at Zuko simultaneously. One was aimed low and one was aimed high. Zuko jumped and dissolved the upper jet with a fiery back flip. He shot a quick blast at Katara upon landing and then quickly moved to her right side. Katara blocked the blast but lost sight of her opponent in the resulting steam. She saw a small red spot in the corner of her eye and turned just in time to avoid another burst of fire. She quickly drew a large ball of water above her head and froze it into a dozen ice daggers.

Zuko noticed the daggers and shot a large jet of fire to melt them, which was exactly what Katara was hoping for. While he was distracted she collected enough water for two water whips. She used them like extensions of her arms and tried to pin Zuko with them. He moved far too quickly and tried to close the distance between them. There was no way Katara stood a chance in close combat and they both knew it. She turned her whips into a large wave that prevented Zuko from getting close enough. Zuko was washed back but he quickly regained his footing. He avoided the jet of water that Katara intended on pinning him to a tree with by rolling to the side. As he straightened up he shot a huge comet-shaped blast of fire at Katara, who had no choice but to roll away. She was not as good at this maneuver and Zuko jumped on the small window of opportunity it provided him. He closed the gap between them while firing high, arching blasts of fire. Katara was forced to concentrate in these and she didn't notice Zuko closing in on her.

Right as he was about to close in on the waterbender, Zuko tripped. He landed on top of Katara, pinning her to the ground. Both benders automatically blushed furiously, and Zuko was frozen in place. Their eyes met and they stayed that way for about ten seconds. Zuko was about to kiss the girl when they heard Suki clear her throat loudly. Zuko pushed himself off of Katara as hard as he could, and his force combined with her own sent him falling into the stream.

The firebender was now embarrassed, blushing, sweaty, and soaking wet. He wasn't fond of the combination. "Wow, sorry to interrupt, I thought you two were sparring." Zuko looked away and Katara blushed harder. Her face was about as red as a Fire Nation flag at this point.

"What makes you think we weren't? That's all we were doing. Just sparring, nothing else." Katara was talking twice her normal speed and trying to stop shaking. Suki laughed as Zuko tried getting up only to slip again. He wasn't very coordinated when he was in an awkward situation.

"Right Katara, I believe you completely. Anyway, we need to get moving, so if you two could stop making out for two minutes, we need to pack up." Suki almost laughed again as she saw the two benders' faces contort angrily. The blushes both teens wore made their faces look even funnier. Zuko's was so red that his scar was barely noticeable.

"We were NOT making out!" Zuko and Katara yelled at the same time, but Suki ignored them.

"Whatever." She walked back to begin packing up. Katara put her clothes back on and began walking back before Zuko stopped her. She thought be was going to try to kiss her again, but unfortunately, he didn't.

"I win." He said as he held up his shirt. "Could you dry my clothes off, and don't forget that we have another match tonight." Katara bent the water out of his clothes as she argued with him.

"You did not win, it was a tie. I could've still beaten you easily." Zuko scoffed as he started back toward camp.

"I expect you to prove it tonight."

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Toph had just about had it with this whole flying thing. Sokka was convinced that Zuko and Katara would be able to get to the forest at least three days earlier than they had thought, so he decided that they would not stop flying until they got there. He said that Appa might be able to reach My Lai by later tonight, but Toph was convinced that Sokka was insane. He kept talking about shortcuts despite the fact that they could just fly over any obstacles in their path.

"Hey Sokka, is that it?" Toph pointed to the left of the saddle.

"What are you talking about Toph; there aren't even any trees over there. What could possibly make you think that it's the... Really?" Toph snickered at Sokka's pathetic memory. It was a joke that really never got old.

"Seriously Snoozles, when are we gonna get there? I'm sick of not being able to see anything, and I hate flying bareback. We really need a new saddle Twinkletoes." She yelled assuming that Aang was steering Appa.

"Don't yell! I'm right here. And I know we need a new saddle. It's just a little tough to find a flying bison saddle in the middle of the Fire Nation. It's not exactly a common product." Toph groaned. She really didn't want to spend the rest of the war holding on to Appa's fur. It was kind of painful after the first few hours.

"We should be at the My Lai forest within twelve hours, Toph. I will work on a saddle for Appa as part of his invasion armor, so stop complaining." Sokka moved to Appa's head to steer as Toph stuck her tongue out at him... Well, his general direction.

"I just don't see why we are working so hard to get there. There is no possible way that Sparky and Sugar Queen could get there this early. They are on foot and travelling with an old man who is probably pretty beat up. Doesn't sound like the fastest group of travelers on the planet."

"She has a point, Sokka. Couldn't stating in one place for a few days be really dangerous? Maybe we should just stop here for the night. We could continue again in the morning. Whataya say?"

Sokka turned back and yelled over the wind. "I say we are getting there tonight. There is no way we are going to be discovered in the middle of a forest. Who would be looking for us anyway? You two need to stop complaining and leave me alone!"

"Sorr-ry. I didn't realize it was that time of month again, Sokka. Geez." Aang had no idea what that meant, but it seemed to make Sokka really mad.

"Hey, shut up. I'm just worried about my sister, so back off."

Toph laughed. "Sure, I totally believe you. I think we have some herbs to help with the cramping if you need it." Sokka was about to continue yelling at her, but decided that ignoring her was a better solution.

"You know, I think I need some of those herbs Toph. These training sessions have been making my legs cramp up really bad." Sokka tried to suppress his laughter, but he couldn't. Toph was already laughing her head off at the monk, so Sokka just gave up and joined in. Aang was so naive sometimes.

"What's so funny guys?"

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"So, how was your sparring match? Did you have fun?" Suki was having the time of her life pestering her friend. Katara was miserable at hiding emotions and that made it even more fun to annoy the waterbending master.

"It was fine. It was a sparring match, nothing too special." Katara turned her head to hide her blush. They both knew she was lying... poorly.

"Yeah, though it ended a bit oddly. Why was Zuko on top of you again?" Suki was having a hard time containing her laughter. She was starting to think that the two hadn't been sparring at all.

"He tripped while sneaking up on me. Zuko is actually very clumsy." Said firebender snorted at this, but didn't bother turning around. He really didn't want to have Suki talking to him. It did not look like fun.

"Are you sure? Maybe he wanted to fall on you." Katara got an idea to get Suki to back off of her.

"I don't know. He might have done it on purpose. It wouldn't be the first time he held me in one spot. Did you know that he tied me to a tree once?" Zuko stumbled up ahead of her and Katara barely bit back a laugh.

"No way. He did not." Katara smiled and nodded. "You tied her to a tree?" Zuko still refused to face the two girls. They were starting to test his patience.

"I was trying to capture the Avatar. I was trying to force her to give me information." Zuko talked in a voice that clearly showed how annoyed he was. Suki really loved this conversation.

"So what exactly did you do to _force_ her?" Zuko and Katara turned scarlet at the girls implications.

"That's disgusting! I would never force a girl into doing something like... that." Zuko tried to stop thinking about different ways that whole tree scenario could have played out. He hated hormones.

"Yeah Suki. All he did was hold my necklace in front of me." That didn't really help.

"Wow Zuko, that's awfully bold of you. How long had you two known each other? Three weeks?" The two benders kept making things worse for themselves every time they spoke, so Zuko decided that he was done with the conversation.

"You know what? It doesn't matter what I say, you're just going to twist it to sound terrible. Believe whatever you want, but we were just sparring." Zuko turned his attention back to walking. He could see the forest in the distance, they were getting really close.

"Last time I checked most sparring matches don't end in make out sessions. You were lying on top of her for at least half a minute!" It was a slight exaggeration, but Suki made her point.

"We didn't even kiss Suki! And Zuko is right, I'm just not gonna talk any more. So ha." Katara crossed her arms and worked her way ahead of the warrior, who was laughing at her friend's lack of maturity.

"Take it east guys, I'm just joking around." Both Zuko and Katara relaxed at that statement. They were worried that Suki had known about their still undecided relationship. "Besides, I think you two make a great couple."

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"Princess Azula! There are three figures headed this way. Two girls and a guy. It looks like your brother, but I'm not entirely sure." The lookout was thrown to the side as Azula took over his post.

"Let me see... So, little Zuzu has made some friends. How cute. Everyone, clear up camp. We don't want Zuko to know that we have ever been here. He needs to have his guard completely down for this plan to work out." Azula had heard that her brother had split off from the Avatar to avoid detection. She assumed that Zuko would take a more direct route to the forest, so she wasn't surprised that he had arrived first. She was also completely prepared with a plan.

"Yes ma'am!" the crew all set off to clean their campsite up. They knew that all they needed to guarantee a victory was the element of surprise. Azula planned to use this as much as physically possible.

Ty Lee approached her friend. She had received a response from Mai four hours ago, but she had been afraid to give it to Azula. "Umm, Azula? This is a message from Mai. You might want to take a look at it." Azula grabbed the letter and opened it carelessly.

_Azula,_

_I am honored that you want my assistance on this mission of utmost importance. It is nice to know that you recognize and appreciate my talents. That being said, I am not going to waste my time helping an arrogant, self-centered, psycho freak like you with anything anymore. I'm sick of being treated like your servant and I am not going to do it. To Ty Lee, sorry. I wish I didn't have to ditch you and leave you alone with Azula, but I can't stand being controlled by her any longer. Good luck, you are a really good friend._

_-Mai_

Ty Lee could practically see Azula's blood boiling with rage, but she had to agree with Mai a little bit. Azula really did treat them more like servants than friends, and it hurt her a bit. "So Mai is refusing to follow orders from her princess, is she? Very well, she will be executed for her cowardly betrayal. Ty Lee, take your position and get ready, it's time to get rid of my brother."

Ty Lee did as she was told and decided to leave out the fact that Mai was leaving Omashu until the war was over. Azula didn't need to know where Mai was going, and Ty Lee didn't want her friend to get hurt.

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There it was! The mountain range that was only thirty miles in front of My Lai forest. Sokka knew that they could get there in time. He was right, as always. "Ha, see that? I was right... again!" Aang was asleep and Toph was fairly close.

"Actually, I don't see anything, but congrats. The sooner we can land, the better." Sokka ignored the earthbender. He wouldn't let his friends depressing attitudes get him down. He was going to be reunited with his little sister and never let her out of his sight again. He hated being away from her and not knowing how she was doing. Sokka knew that Katara could take care of herself, but that didn't mean she had to.

"Hey Aang! We're almost there!" Aang snapped awake at his friend's loud voice, and he shot up into a sitting position. Unfortunately for him, Toph was right over the top of him trying to find her sleeping bag. Their foreheads collided hard, leaving both benders with painful headaches.

"OW! Twinkletoes, what did you do that for?" She rubbed her temples while Aang shook his head. This was definitely not the best way to wake up in the morning.

"What do you mean me? Why are you crawling over me in the first place?"

"**I **can't see where I'm going and I need my sleeping bag. **You** should probably look before head butting the air as hard as possible."

"Guys, that isn't important. We are almost to the forest; we could be there within four hours! Isn't that great?" Aang turned to glare at him while Toph glared at a cloud off to Appa's left. Sokka figured it was probably meant for him, but both she and Aang were pretty dizzy.

"Why did you have to wake me up like that? It isn't even important! You could have just woken me up once we got there!" Sokka had thought that Aang would be just as happy as he was to be close to meeting with Katara again. Apparently he was wrong.

"I figured that you would want to know. You seemed just as worried as I did." Aang blushed and turned his head. "Seriously though, we are gonna get to see Katara again soon. Aren't you guys happy?"

"Sure Snoozles, we are both thrilled. You can just wake me up once we get there, alright?" Toph finally found her bag and quickly curled up inside it. It got really cold flying on the back of Appa; there was a _lot_ of wind.

"Yeah, I have to agree with Toph. Wake me up when we get there. In the meantime…" Aang lay back down and closed his eyes. He was used to the wind so he didn't need a sleeping back. Sokka stared at his friends incredulously. They should have been just as excited as he was. Did they not care about his sister? That couldn't be it; both of them cared a great deal about Katara. He assumed that they were just really tired. He turned back to the reigns with a shrug and concentrated on finding his sister.

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They were almost there. After walking all morning, Suki, Katara and Zuko were ecstatic to see My Lai forest come into view. It was perfect because it was so dense that they could hide for weeks, and they just had to sit back and wait for Aang and the others to arrive.

Suki had gone back and forth between normal conversation and annoying Katara about her relationship with Zuko. He felt bad for her but wasn't willing to be pulled into the conversation again. The few times that Suki had tried to annoy Zuko, he completely ignored her. He knew that the silent treatment wasn't the best way to make friends, but he didn't really care at this point. All that mattered was getting to their destination, avoiding being humiliated once again by the Kyoshi Warrior, and trying to control his anger long enough to get to the forest without killing his third traveling companion. He found that controlling his anger was a lot easier while he was laughing at Katara's discomfort. She was handling Suki's antics very poorly, which made the whole thing funnier.

"Zuko, is this it?" Katara was trying to change the subject from her conversation with Suki, which had something to do with kids and the possibility of a double bender.

"Yeah, this is the My Lai forest. It's pretty dense but I'm sure we can find a clearing somewhere." Zuko hadn't turned around the entire trip and wasn't about to start now. Suki thought he was being rude but Katara knew by now that he was just being himself. He didn't really care about being polite when it came to getting things done.

"Great, my legs are getting tired. I'll tell you what, you two find a clearing and I'll find some fire wood. But remember, I'll be back soon and you two are far too young to have kids." Suki smiled evilly as she headed off in a different direction. She could practically here the blush on Katara's face when the waterbender yelled at her back.

"That's disgusting Suki! We are **not **together! And we are just going to find a clearing and set up camp, so stop thinking like that." Katara huffed in annoyance and turned to Zuko, who was facing her. She hadn't expected that and she quickly turned to hide her blush.

"I think I see a small open spot right through there." Zuko pointed and Katara forced herself to stop blushing before following it. It looked like there might be a small clearing there, so they headed in that direction. Zuko was starting to get a weird feeling that they were being watched, but he always had that feeling when he was in forests. He heard a twig snap but dismissed it as Suki collecting fire wood. He came into the clearing and looked around. It was definitely big enough for them to set up camp, and Appa would have plenty of room to land. It was pretty much the perfect spot. He heard Katara inhale sharply, and was confused as to why she found a clearing so appalling.

"Don't move, Zuzu." He turned to see Azula holding a small blue flame to Katara's neck. His sister had the waterbender in a headlock and Katara was staring at him. Her eyes were wide with fear, but Zuko knew that any sudden movement would cause Azula to kill the girl. He needed to think of something, and fast.

"What are you doing here, Azula?" The girl smiled in her own evil fashion.

"What does it look like? I'm going to use the girl to capture the Avatar. It's kind of sad that you never thought of this plan. I have to ask though, why aren't you traveling with the Avatar. I thought you were a full blown traitor and you were going to teach him firebending. I guess you're too stupid to think of that as well." Zuko's eyebrow twitched as he tried to keep his anger under control.

"Put her down Azula. You don't need her for anything and-" he was cut off as Ty Lee jumped from behind him and quickly blocked his chi.

"Actually, I think she is going to stay with me for awhile."

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**A/N: Okay, that's chapter 9. Finally we get to the important part. School starts tomorrow (my school starts late, but so does my summer) so I won't be writing anything tonight. It may take until Saturday to get the next chapter posted, so sorry in advance. I worked pretty hard to get this one out today, right after posting chapter one of my other fic. Hopefully I won't be swamped with homework this week, but AP Calculus will have something to say about that. Oh, and this is the two week anniversary of this story! 14 days and 10 chapters! It's more like 8 because I posted four in the first two days. Also, I plan on doing the response to reviews every tenth chapter, mostly so you guys don't have to read them every time. I try to respond to them personally, but I usually end up not getting it done.**

**So, First things first. I really appreciate everyone who reviewed, and I'm glad that so many people stuck with this for ten chapters. So thank you to Lily123236219, DecemberDove, Remember When It Rained, ZutaraxTaangxSukka, Invisible Firebender, rubyprincess57, CatDawg14 and zutaraluvr10, as well as all of my anonymous reviewers from Jadelyn3352, nina, SAVANNAH, Sydney, Louise and Wolf. You guys are great and I really appreciate that you took the time to write a review.**

**Special Shout outs to:**

**AnnaAza- Thanks for being not only my first ever reviewer, but also for multiple reviews. Acts of Kindness was one of the stories that finally inspired me to start writing fanfiction, so it means a lot that you read my story. (Guys, you can blame her for this pathetic story.)**

**Sokkantylee- Tied with AnnaAza for my most repetitive reviewer. I really appreciate the undeserved compliments. Sorry that my plot is so predictable, but it will get less obvious in the future.**

**Cooking-ninja18- Thank you for all of the reviews as well as the help and advice. I really needed it.**

**ThousandMileRoad- Thanks for all of the reviews. Hopefully you don't hate this cliffhanger as much as the last one; it isn't quite as dramatic in my opinion. **

**Bridget Friste- Thank you for reviewing as well. I'm glad you don't hate me, and again, this cliffhanger isn't that bad. And yeah, school is annoying.**

**Tosharino- I'm really glad you like the story so far! Thanks for the reviews.**

**Animegamer89- Thank you so much for the reviews, although I didn't think the last chapter was as great as you did. Hopefully this sparring scene is better than the previous one, I tried to pick up some things from your story, Melting the Ice.**

**Wenfler- Thanks for the reviews as well as the pm's. They work just as well. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I am looking forward to the next chapter of your crossroads story. (It's called Crossroads of Destiny if you guys are interested.)**

**Alright, so that should be everyone. If I missed someone, you have permission to flame me mercilessly. You know you want to, too. Anyway, I also want to thank everyone who has favorite or put this story on their alert list. That is really awesome, and I can't believe how many people like this story so much. **

**And finally, thank you to everyone who has read this story all the way to this point. I expected to get like fifty readers per chapter at the most, but I have gotten way more than that, so thanks. It's really nice to know that people were willing to give this story a chance, despite the incredibly crappy prologue. I really hate that prologue and I think I'm going to edit it eventually. Thanks again everybody!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**A/N: Chapter 10, and it's a bit on the shorter side. I probably should have included this first paragraph at the end of last chapter, and Sokka, Toph and Aang won't be making an appearance in this chapter. Sorry, I'll make it up to all of you. Anyway, I'll explain my plan for this at the end, as well as my excuses for its lateness and shortness, but here is the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I forgot this last chapter, so it is doubled! I I do do not not own own anything anything at at all all..**

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Zuko watched helplessly as his sister dragged Katara away with her. He knew from personal experience that Ty Lee's chi-blocking lasted a long time, and he really wasn't looking forward to letting Azula get a head start. Gods know she didn't need one.

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Katara struggled and fought to get away as she was taken back to Azula's airship. She could see the over sized war balloon up in the distance, and wondered how they hadn't noticed it before. It was hidden away, but it was so big that missing it seemed incredibly pathetic. She noticed that this balloon was much bigger than the one that had been invented by Teo's father. The fact that the Fire Nation had made the air ships bigger scared her. They certainly had a technological advantage in this war.

Katara was now being held by Ty Lee, who had an impressively strong grip. She was a bit surprised that the acrobat hadn't blocked her chi yet, but figured all it meant was that she would have to be carried. Azula was off in the distance yelling at some soldiers. "Why do you put up with her? You don't seem like a terrible person."

"Azula isn't a terrible person; she is just very determined to get what she wants."

"I'm sure that helps you sleep at night, but seriously? She is a cruel, heartless jerk. She almost killed Aang, how can she justify that?" Ty Lee looked for Azula as Katara finished her last question as if she was seeking approval. _Is she __**that**__ afraid of her own friend?_

"I... I... Don't know." Ty Lee had thought about this a lot lately, but Azula wasn't really that bad deep down, right? She was just doing what she was told, how was that wrong? But at the same time she wondered how far Azula was willing to go to reach her goals. What did she consider more important, capturing the Avatar or the lives of her friends?

Katara scoffed but dropped it. She was just waiting for Suki or Zuko to help her out, they wouldn't let her be taken by Azula. Now that her captor was distracted, she thought it would be best not to draw attention to herself. She looked around as much as possible while Ty Lee pushed her to the airship. Katara caught a brief glimpse of something in the treetops and smirked. She would be out of there sooner than she had thought.

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Suki heard voices coming from the direction of Zuko and Katara, only the voices were not Zuko or Katara's. She moved quickly and stealthily towards the clearing and found Zuko lying on the ground. She had almost thought he was dead because he wasn't moving at all, but the prince explained that he had been chi blocked by the acrobat girl.

Zuko told her to go after Katara, so Suki followed closely behind the Fire Nation girls without being seen. Azula left to yell at some crew, so Katara was left alone with the other girl. Suki watched as Ty Lee carelessly moved further away from the other Fire Nation people and closer to the airship. All Suki needed to do was find a decent escape route and she could break Katara free easily.

She figured that she and Katara would be able to lose any pursuers if they ran through the forest, so she merely waited until Katara and Ty Lee were close to the trees. They were about ten feet from the airship ramp when Suki struck.

Her feet hit Ty Lee directly in the chest, sending her flying through the air before landing and rolling painfully on the hard ground. Katara fell from the impact as well, but was much quicker to get back to her feet. "Run!" Both girls took off in the opposite direction of Azula and her crew, who were hot on their heels. Ty Lee had gotten back to her feet and was after them as well.

Suki and Katara ducked and dodged their way through a countless number of trees while avoiding occasional blasts of fire from their pursuers. Suki noticed that Ty Lee was not among those following them, so she assumed that the girl was going to try and cut them off. "We should split up so they can't chase both of us."

"Okay, I hear water this way, so you go that way." Katara turned sharply to her right as Suki veered left. She continued to focus on the trees, ready for the pink-clad acrobat to jump her at any time. She made her way into a clearing and slowed down. Nobody was following her, which meant they were all after Katara. Suki was about to head back to help her friend when she was forced to twist and jump to avoid a fist aimed at her shoulder.

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Katara noticed that Azula was the only one that was still chasing her, and she couldn't help but marvel at the girl's determination. She was definitely not going to give up. The sound of a river nearby was getting louder and louder, and Katara could practically feel it flowing. She had to dive behind a tree to avoid yet another blast of blue fire, but she quickly resumed her desperate sprint. If she could just reach that water she would stand a fighting chance against the tired out Azula.

Just as Katara was starting to see a break in the trees, she was forced to skid to a halt in order to stop from running through a wall of fire. The waterbender was surrounded on all sides by towering flames, and she had no water to stop the fire from spreading.

"You've got nowhere to run, peasant."

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Suki and Ty Lee blocked and dodged as if they were performing a dance routine rather than fist fighting. Each jab was blocked and countered or avoided and rendered useless. The two girls seemed to be a perfectly even match. As soon as one seemed to gain the upper hand, the other would quickly balance things out. Suki had almost lost her footing, but recovered by wrapping her arm around a poorly timed jab from Ty Lee and sending a kick toward the girls face. Ty Lee blocked with her forearms, but was sent back a few yards.

Ty Lee tried to hit any pressure point she could get her hands on, but Suki was too quick for it to work. Now that she knew what to expect, Suki was an incredible fighter. A loud crash sounded in the distance, and it attracted the attention of Ty Lee, who was always easily distracted. Suki took advantage of the momentary lapse in concentration and kicked Ty Lee square in the jaw. The acrobat slid backwards while holding her bleeding mouth. Suki took off in the direction Katara had went, hoping she wouldn't be too late to help her friend.

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Katara was having a tough time avoiding all of Azula's attacks. The girl was ruthless and Katara had very little space to work with. Only four trees were inside Azula's ring of fire, and they didn't look like they could take much more heat. Katara was breathing hard as she listened to Azula from behind the thickest of the trees. "You can't dodge forever, you pathetic Water Tribe trash!"

She sent a huge burst of blue fire at one of the trees that Katara wasn't behind, and it was sent crashing to the ground. Katara knew that she would lose this fight if she couldn't get a hold of some water, and fast. Azula had a limitless amount of ammunition as well as much more hand to hand combat skill. The river was a bit too far away for Katara to pull any water from, and she had used up the water from her skin a long time ago. She was actually surprised to see that Ty Lee hadn't taken her water skin away earlier, but that wasn't terribly important at the moment. Azula was laughing maniacally as yet another tree fell to the ground. Katara had to jump out into the open to avoid being crushed by the fast-falling tree.

"I have you now, water peasant." Lightning cracked at Azula's fingertips and Katara's eyes widened. Was this how she was going to die? She had nowhere to go and nowhere to hide now that her tree was blocked off. She closed her eyes and wondered how bad this was going to hurt.

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Zuko was surprised when he got feeling back in his arms and legs over an hour earlier than he had expected. He could barely move, but he forced himself to get off the ground. The prince looked around and began to move slowly and painfully in the direction Suki and Katara had gone. He was in no shape to fight, but he would be by the time he got to Azula.

As he walked, Zuko wondered why he could move at all. Normally Ty Lee left people immobile for hours at a time. Had she messed up or did she try to give Zuko a little help? It wasn't really important, but Zuko wondered nonetheless. He heard a loud crash in the distance and immediately took off at full speed. He didn't care about how badly it hurt to run; he just knew that it would hurt worse to lose Katara.

He bolted through the forest and barely hesitated when he saw Ty Lee slowly getting to her feet in a small clearing. He sprinted past Suki who was limping slightly, and tore through more and more forest. He finally came upon a wall of fire, which he promptly bent his way through. Zuko saw Katara standing with her eyes closed and heard the crackle of lightning. He turned and caught the bolt with his hand. As his mind registered what was happening, he could only think one thing. _This is __**NOT**__ good._

Zuko's chi was still partially blocked, and he felt an excruciating pain tear through his right arm. There was a loud explosion and Zuko went flying back into a tree, hitting his back against the trunk with a sickening _thud!_

Katara opened her eyes upon hearing the explosion, and was shocked to see Zuko flying straight into a nearby tree. He looked completely dead, but his eyes opened slightly and Katara breathed a sigh of relief. Suki burst into the clearing followed closely by Ty Lee, and this snapped Katara back to reality. Katara dashed toward Zuko while screaming his name, but was cut off by another wall of flames.

"Looks like this is it, Zuzu. Seems like a sad way for you to go out, but you always were a disappointment." Azula reached her hand back as a blue flame sparked to life in her palm. Suki and Katara watched in horror as Azula prepared to kill her own brother, who was lying completely defenseless before her.

Through blurry vision, Zuko saw Azula's cold eyes and a small speck of blue. Then, everything went black.

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**A/N: Okay, so a day late, a short chapter, and perhaps the most evil cliffhanger I could have left you with. I'm really not being nice right now, am I? Again, I'm really sorry about all this crap, but I'll make it up to you all with the next update. It will bring this story up to at least 45,000 words, making it my longest chapter by far... I think. Zuko's dead! Or is he? Probably not. Okay, now for my pathetic excuses:**

**EXCUSES**

**Okay, so the first week of school was suckishly horrible, and my teachers swamped me with homework. Five assignments in three days for math, a take home test in Physics, and an essay in lit. Plus I'm not used to getting up early, so I went to bed at like nine every night.**

**FUTURE PLAN**

**I plan on updating twice a week, most likely on Tuesday and Friday. That said, I'm not making any promises, because I will surely break them yet again. The next chapter will be up Friday (and I am promising, very hypocritically) and it will be the most epic chapter yet. I hope.**

**Review please, and try not to hate me too much.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**A/N: Here it is, and it is looooooong. Enjoy and, if you feel like it, Review!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

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Azula reached back to finish off her own brother with no hesitation whatsoever. Katara was still trapped behind a wall of fire and Suki was in utter shock. Azula brought her arm down, blue flames trailing after it.

Suddenly, she felt three swift jabs. One was to her shoulder, one to her neck, and one to her lower back. Set felt her arm go limp and her body start to fall forward. She tried to reach out her arms to catch herself, but found that neither one was in her control. She expected to feel pain when she hit the ground, but didn't feel anything at all. She was completely paralyzed and could only move her eyes and mouth.

That could only mean one thing.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Ty Lee? Why did you do that?" She couldn't see Ty Lee but knew that her friend was the only one capable of chi-blocking her.

"I... You were going to kill him; I can't let you do that to your own brother." The wall of fire that was holding Katara back dropped and the waterbender rushed forward and grabbed Zuko. He was lying motionless, and appeared to be dead. Katara checked his pulse and breathing as Ty Lee continued to argue with Azula.

"Of course I was going to kill him! He is a traitor, Ty Lee, and he got in my way. If it wasn't for him and uncle I could have killed the Avatar in Ba Sing Se, and I would still be considered a hero." Ty Lee got to where Azula could see her and crouched down.

"But he is the prince of the Fire Nation and he's your brother, doesn't that count for anything?"

"Of course not. He is a failure and an embarrassment to our nation. He betrayed his people, so he deserves to be killed." Ty Lee was surprised that Azula was actually this cold. Maybe Katara had been right.

"Does that mean that Mai deserves to die? Are you going to kill her too?"

"After I capture the Avatar I will have Mai arrested. Her punishment will be decided by my father."

"You don't mean that. Mai is your friend and you wouldn't have her arrested." There was no way Azula was serious right now. Then again, Ty Lee couldn't remember the last time Azula _wasn't_ serious.

"Friends are useless; they will only end up betraying you. I'll have you executed as well if you don't capture the waterbender." Tears sprang to Ty Lee's eyes and she fought them back as best as she could. Azula thought she was useless? Her best friend would have her executed for saving her brother's life? Maybe Azula _was_ heartless after all.

"Is that really what you think?" Azula merely glared in response. "Fine. I guess you are right about one thing. All of your friends {are} betraying you." Ty Lee got up and turned to walk away when the entire airship crew burst into the clearing. She vaguely wondered how they were so insanely slow.

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Katara quickly found Zuko's pulse and made sure that he was still breathing. He was, but barely. Katara knew he wasn't in good condition and that she needed to heal him quickly if he was going to survive. There was a large gash in his head from the impact with the tree, and Katara was worried that his arm would have a scar by the time it had healed. She was still a bit confused as to what exactly happened; it had almost looked like Zuko had caught the lightning.

Katara shook her head to clear it as Suki came over to help. "Is he going to be okay?" Katara didn't know, but she always tried to remain optimistic.

"If I get a chance to heal him relatively soon I think he'll be able to pull through. We need to get him out of here and I need a lot of water." Suki began to look around for a safer spot to stay, but she had no idea how deep into the forest they were at this point. Azula would probably be able to follow them anywhere they went from here, and Zuko was dead weight. Almost literally.

She didn't have a lot of time to think because the entire airship crew came bursting on to the scene moments after Suki had began searching. "Uhh, Katara? We have a bit of a situation on our hands." The waterbender looked up and saw nearly forty Fire Nation men surrounding them.

"We have to get Zuko out of here. Do you think we can outrun them?" Zuko had to be over one hundred and thirty pounds, which would slow them down considerably.

"Not unless you can sprint while carrying Zuko. Think we can fight them off?" It was a beat up warrior that couldn't bend and a waterbender with no water versus forty-four trained Fire Nation soldiers. Not to mention the fact that any number of them could be benders.

"I doubt it. We need to move, if we get lucky we might be able to lose them." Suki nodded and quickly helped Katara lift Zuko before taking off into the woods. The crew members were immediately on their tails, shooting blasts of fire that would miss or hit trees instead of the intended targets.

Katara had no way of seeing where she was going because Suki was in the lead. She wasn't expecting her foot to get caught in a root causing her to fall face first toward the ground, but she did. She half-screamed half-helped in surprise and prepared for a lot of pain. Suki stumbled under the sudden added weight but managed to right herself and keep Zuko from hitting the ground too hard. He was unconscious anyway, so it wasn't like he felt it.

Just before Katara hit the ground she was grabbed by Ty Lee. She quickly got back on her feet and grabbed Zuko. "There's a clearing with a river running through it right over here. I can distract the crew while you get Zuko fixed up." Ty Lee took off without waiting for a response, leaving Katara and Suki in a stunned silence. They looked at each other with confused expressions before sprinting in the direction Ty Lee had pointed. Both of them knew that it could have been a trap, but it was their best chance of saving Zuko.

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Sokka had resorted to talking to Appa as a way to pass the time until he reached the My Lai forest. He had learned his lesson about waking up his companions from the last time. They didn't do too well without their sleep. Sokka had tried to doze off but he was too anxious to sleep. Not being able to see his little sister was killing him and he had no idea if she was even safe. He tried to ignore the fact that he was days early and there was a chance Katara wouldn't be there for a long time. To keep himself from thinking about it too much, he had struck up a conversation with the sky bison, who happened to be an incredibly good listener. "So, you like flying?" The bison groaned in response and Sokka assumed that meant yes.

"It seems like it would be fun, but I would think that it would tire you out. I guess it does. Last time we overworked you you ended up crash-landing. That did not feel good on my back by the way. But I guess you ended up saving us from those crazy girls, so I suppose we're even. Then again I never got you back for sneezing on me when we first met." Appa made a noise that Sokka could have sworn sounded exactly like a laugh. "You thought it was funny? After everything I've done for you, cleaning your feet, washing your fur and feeding you? And what do you do to repay me? Shoot bison-snot all over my face and laugh about it. Gee, thanks."

Appa never got a chance to respond (not that he would have) because Sokka saw a huge blast of fire shoot out a few miles ahead. He snapped the reigns and Appa lurched forward. "Guys! Wake up, we have a problem."

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Mai walked the streets of Omashu trying to clear her head. Normally she would just sit around and mope while attempting to think about things, but that wasn't working at all. She remembered Ty Lee saying something about walking to help think, so she was giving it a shot. And Mai had a lot to think about. After basically telling Azula to go screw herself, Mai was fairly certain she would be in trouble. For as long as she could remember Azula was definitely not a fan of being told no, especially not the way Mai had done it. Getting out of Omashu within one or two days was imperative to Mai's survival, and she knew it.

She wasn't exactly fond of the idea of being a refugee, but she was sick of being treated like crap. Azula always abused her power and pushed her and Ty Lee around, and she was _not_ about to take it anymore. It was not so much a betrayal as a stand. Mai didn't think that showing a little compassion and asking instead of demanding was too much to ask of a friend. Besides, who in their right mind wanted to chase some twelve year old kid around the world for weeks at a time? Seeing as the only person currently doing so at the time was Azula, clearly the answer was nobody, at least not in their right mind.

So now the question was simply what to do. Should she tell her family or just leave? Would she travel the world or settle down somewhere? Hide out in the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation? Do something to help the war effort or do nothing? Or even maybe fight against the war effort?

Mai sighed heavily. Ty Lee was wrong, walking around did nothing to help one think or concentrate, it was just cold. She pulled her cloak closer to her body and walked back toward her house. She would sleep on it tonight and try to make a decision by morning. She assumed that it would take at least two days for anyone to get to Omashu, so she had time. Now it was only a matter of how she was going to use it.

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Katara was healing Zuko to the best of her abilities. She started with his head and back (which had taken a beating from the impact with the tree) and was wearing down quickly. She summoned as much strength as she possibly could and tried her best to heal him completely. It was a very slow process, but she was sure that he would survive at this point. Katara was a bit worried that he would be left with another scar or possibly even lose his arm completely. The waterbender was still a bit confused as to what had even happened. It was as if Zuko had caught the lightning only to have it blow up on him. She wasn't sure what he had done, but he definitely planned on asking.

Shaking her head to clear it and wiping sweat from her forehead Katara continued to work on her patient. He moved on to the firebender's shoulder and assessed the damage. It was bad. The burns were deep and she worried that his chi would be permanently blocked, making it so he could no longer bend using that arm. Of course, she was refusing to accept the possibly that his arm might not ever work again at all. The water began to glow around her hands but she was forced to continually draw more from the stream she was kneeling next to.

Suki was keeping watch and staying prepared for an attack. Both she and Katara were still skeptical about Ty Lee, though so far it seemed that she was telling the truth. Suki had asked Katara how Zuko was a little while ago, but she hadn't received a response of any kind. In fact, the warrior seriously doubted that Katara had heard her at all. The girl was concentrating incredibly hard and Suki was a bit worried that the girl would pass out from exhaustion. She continued to look out into the surrounding forest in case anything posed a threat. After taking one glance at Zuko, Suki had almost thrown up. His shoulder was almost completely burnt and she had no idea how he had survived at all. His head and back had looked terrible when they first arrived, and she actually had to wash her hands to clear off all of the blood. There was no way Zuko was waking up any time soon considering how much blood he had lost, and Suki marveled at how the boy survived at all.

Suki immediately shot into a fighting stance as she heard a sound coming from her right. She turned to see Ty Lee limping into the clearing favoring her right leg, which looked like it had a sprained ankle, maybe worse. "Hey, I lost them in the forest, but you guys should probably move if you want to get out of here. They could be back any minute." There was a pause, and Suki noticed that Katara had not even looked up yet. "Please tell me he's going to be okay."

"I wouldn't know, and Katara is still working on him... Why are you helping us anyway?" Suki's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she realized that there was really no reason to trust the girl in front of her.

"Zuko is my friend... Well sort of. I mean, I was Azula's friend and Zuko liked Mai, so we hung out every once in a while. We were kind of friends but-" Suki cut her off.

"Is there a point to any of this?"

"Right, sorry. Well I guess Azula isn't the person I thought she was and I'm not sure I want to follow her anymore. She doesn't seem to care about anyone but herself." The explanation made sense, but Suki still didn't really like this girl, so she wasn't going to trust her quite so easily.

"Fine, whatever." Well she wouldn't have trusted her if the situation wasn't so desperate. "Where exactly are we supposed to go? All there is out here is forest. They have the aerial advantage on us with that airship too. We need to get Zuko out of these trees."

"Suki look!" Katara's joyous voice sounded loudly throughout the clearing before Ty Lee could voice any plan she could come up with.

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"Do you think it was Zuko? Maybe he was training with Iroh."

"That was an explosion! Why would they be blowing themselves up for training? That Jerk bender is probably attacking my baby sister. I'm going to kill him."

"I seriously doubt that Zuko would attack Katara. I'm pretty sure we can trust him. He turned his back on his own people, his own _sister,_ for us."

"I kinda have to agree with Toph on that one, Sokka. Maybe they made a mistake. Or maybe it's other Fire Nation soldiers."

Sokka was getting angry. It was taking far too long to get to the explosion, and his sister was in serious danger. Probably. Why couldn't Aang and Toph realize that and shut up? He knew his sister was in trouble, he could _feel_ it. Sokka may not have been the best warrior in the world, but he was going to be the best older brother he could possibly be. And that meant saving his sister from whatever trouble he was currently in. "Whatever it is it can't be good. We need to get there as quickly as possible. I hope you guys are right and it is nothing, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"By that you mean it's a good idea for us to go charging in on a bunch of firebenders riding on top of a gigantic bison that I can't even see from? That sounds like the safest idea I've ever heard." Toph's incredibly obvious sarcasm was completely missed by Aang.

"Are you crazy? That is the complete opposite of safe." Toph's palm hit her forehead. "What if it is Azula? Or an army of Fire Nation soldiers? We might get captured, Sokka. We should really stop and plan this out." Aang was not a fan of running in on violent firebenders, especially not when he was still waking up. Or falling asleep, he wasn't quite sure.

"No, we are checking it out and that's final. Stop complaining and get ready. This might be dangerous."

"Whatever you say, _Dad_." Toph was not a fan of being told what to do, but Sokka was kind of in charge, seeing as he was flying and everything.

"I am not your father. I'm the oldest so I'm in charge." Sokka wasn't sure why he was arguing about this right now, but his mind wasn't working well anyway.

"Technically, I've got you by ninety-six years. Plus Zuko is older than you, and Katara acts older than you. You should be like fourth leader. Maybe even fifth."

"I think I should he ahead of Snoozles, I'm older than him if you go by intelligence." Toph snickered as she imagined the vibrations she would be getting from Sokka right now. He was about ready to explode himself.

"That is not important! I am in charge at least right now. And I am very intelligent; I am actually a genius, thank you very much. And another thing-" Aang cut off Sokka's rant.

"Hey, is that Katara?" He was pointing to a small clearing with four figures in it. They were hard to make out, but there was a bright blue one and a weird light emanating from the darker figure below it. Appa seemed to gain even more speed and was in the clearing within seconds.

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Toph was already wishing she had stayed on the bison. As soon as her feet touched the ground that was normally her best friend she felt the most terrible scene ever. Zuko was lying on the ground, completely unconscious and barely breathing, with the worst injuries the blind earthbender could ever imagine. Sokka didn't seem to notice the firebender or even his girlfriend as he enveloped his crying sister in a tight hug. She noticed Aang's heartbeat increase slightly at seeing Katara, but it almost stopped upon seeing Zuko. This was one of the few moments that Toph was grateful that she was blind. Of all the sights in the world to see, this was clearly not one of them.

"What happened? Is Zuko dead?" Aang sounded incredibly scared of the answer, but his voice became furious when he caught sight of Ty Lee. "You did this to him, didn't you?" Toph was actually a bit disappointed. Had Aang truly let go of Katara, he would have been in the Avatar state. She ignored the pang of jealousy and focused on Zuko.

Ty Lee hung her head but Suki came to her defense. "It was Azula. He is still alive but we need to get out of here." Aang didn't really notice who was speaking for a while, only what she had said.

"How did Azula do this? Why do we need to leave so quickly if Ty Lee isn't a threat?" Suddenly his mind caught up. "And how did you get here, Suki?" Katara answered instead.

"Suki was in prison with Iroh, who left. We can explain later, but Azula's crew is still looking for us. We owe Ty Lee enough to at least help her escape as well, so she is coming with us." Katara was doing her best to hold her composure, but she was not doing very well. Aang nodded to her and he and Suki lifted Zuko onto Appa's back. Katara quickly filled her water skin before hopping aboard with everyone else. Ty Lee was hesitant, but everyone seemed to be ignoring her, so she climbed on as well. The group travelled in utter silence as Katara tirelessly worked to heal Zuko.

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Iroh was slowly but steadily making his way toward the Earth Kingdom. His plan was to help take back Omashu and call together the members of the Order of the White Lotus. He figured that they could attempt to take back Ba Sing Se on the Day of Black Sun, using the invasion as a bit of a distraction. He already knew that most of the soldiers would be in the Fire Nation in order to protect Ozai, so there would not be as many for all of his men. He would probably arrive at the house of master Piandao within the hour, and he would hopefully have better means of transportation. The retired general was far too old to walk the Earth Kingdom, much less swim across the ocean to get to it. Even with his reconditioned body, swimming across an ocean was impossible, and crossing the Earth Kingdom on foot would take far too long. A giant eel-hound would be able to get him to Omashu within a couple of days.

The only benefit to taking a lot of time was just that. He had a lot of time to think things through. After making his plan for taking back Omashu and attempting to liberate Ba Sing Se, the Dragon of the West turned his thoughts to his nephew... And his son. He vaguely wondered what his son would be like now that he would be in his twenties; what kind of girl he would marry, what his kids might be like, what Lu Ten himself would be like. Iroh quickly dispelled the thoughts knowing that they could only bring him sadness. He was haunted by the mistakes of his past, which was something he didn't want for his nephew. It was a major reason he had accompanied Zuko on his desperate mission in the first place.

Unfortunately, Zuko had already made bus fair share of mistakes, and Iroh could see how much the young man still struggled with his past. It wasn't as if Iroh could blame the boy, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to simply let a history as awful as Zuko's go. The young prince was improving as not only a bender, but as a person and a leader as well. The pride Iroh felt towards the boy was very fatherly, and he basically thought of Zuko as a second son now. He had grown to far too fast, but he was still the kind-hearted young boy he used to be somewhere deep down. The Water Tribe girl was definitely helping Zuko find himself, and Iroh only hoped that the prince wouldn't screw it up.

Iroh smiled as he thought of future great nieces and nephews.

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It was getting extremely late. Everyone was asleep except Katara and her brother, though Sokka had just woke up. Katara looked ready to pass out but she just sat there and watched Zuko as though her state was the only thing keeping him alive. Sokka could have sworn that she wasn't even blinking. He was really worries that his sister wasn't going to get enough sleep, and she was clearly exhausted from travelling on foot do long as well as healing Zuko for hours on end. "Uh, Katara?" She slowly looked up, large bags under her blood-shot eyes. "You should probably get some sleep. You've done everything you can; you need to have energy so you can heal him again tomorrow."

"But what if something happens tonight? What if he stops breathing and suffocates? Or what if he wakes up? Or falls off of Appa? I need to make sure he's okay." Sokka didn't like seeing his sister this worried, and it was happening far too often lately. First it was Aang, and now it was Zuko. He wasn't completely sure why she cared so much about the prince, but he assumed that her reasons would be revealed when she finally explained everything. She had been so busy healing Zuko that she hadn't taken the time to tell anyone how he had even gotten hurt.

"I can watch him, you need to sleep. He'll be fine; it's you that I'm worried about." The words had almost no affect on Katara, who completely ignored Sokka and continued to stare at her unconscious friend. "Why are you so worked up about this anyway? I mean, at least it wasn't you or Suki." Katara turned angrily toward him and whispered venomously.

"How can you even think that, Sokka? He is part of the team now whether you like it or not. He is going to teach Aang firebending, and I have to make sure that he still can. You would probably just push him off of Appa yourself."

"That's not what I meant. If you had gotten hurt you wouldn't be able to heal yourself, and I would hate myself forever for letting you get hurt. Suki probably couldn't have taken the hit that Zuko did, so I doubt she would have survived even with your healing. As much as it pains me to say it, Zuko is tough. The guy always bounces back and he never gives up. If anyone can pull through an injury like this, it's Zuko. And if anyone can take care of him, it's you. If you are exhausted tomorrow though, you won't be much help to anyone." This calmed Katara down, though she still seemed a bit unsure.

"I just can't stand the thought of losing anyone else to this war. I'm afraid that he might not make it. I know you're probably right, but still, it's hard." Katara was on the verge of breaking into tears again. She did her best not to think about losing two people she cared about to the war, her mother was more than enough.

"I know it's tough, Katara. Ever since mom died it's been hard for you to think about losing people, even if they are just allies." He was going to continue but Katara snapped at him again.

"He is not just an ally, he is a friend."

"Okay fine, whatever. You can trust him as much as you want, but he is definitely just an ally. At least, that's the way he sees it. Anyway-"

"He saved my life you idiot. That's how he got hurt. He got hit with a lightning bolt that was aimed at me. I can't let him die to save my life, and he is going to come out of this perfectly fine. I'm not going to let him stay injured because he is my friend. I'm not being too trusting or naive or whatever. Zuko saved my life so I owe him enough to at least save his." Sokka stared back at her wide-eyed. That was unexpected to say the least.

"Are you serious?" Her glare told him yes. Sokka was having a tough time grasping the idea of Zuko saving Katara's life, especially by taking a lightning bolt. Maybe he wasn't complete Fire Nation scum. "Wow. I'm sorry Katara. I just have a hard time accepting that he's changed. It's not that I don't trust your judgment; I just think that you can be too optimistic. You try to find the good in everything and everyone, which is a good way to be, but it is also dangerous. I swear I won't do anything to Zuko if you go to sleep, and I'll wake you if anything happens. I'm worried about you, you're my little sister and if anything ever happened to you I would never be able to forgive myself. Please try to understand that I am just trying to protect you, Katara. I'll trust your judgment on this one and give Zuko the benefit of the doubt, but you really need to catch up on your sleep, okay?"

Sometime during his lengthy monologue Katara had crawled right next to him. She embraced her brother and tears streamed down her face. "I know you are only trying to help Sokka, and you are a great brother. I'm glad that you are looking out for me, but you can't protect me forever." Katara broke away from him and lay down to sleep between Toph and Suki. She was asleep almost immediately.

"I know, and that's exactly what I'm worried about."

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The ragtag group of kids starting waking as the sun made its way up over the distant mountains. Appa was completely exhausted and needed at least a full days rest. Katara had woken up earlier than usual to check on Zuko, who was still out cold. She had estimated that he would not be up for three to five days, but she was never one to give up hoping for a miracle. She promptly began healing his shoulder and checking up on everything else to make sure he was fine. His back and head were fine, and Katara could feel blood flowing to his hand, so scarring was the only legitimate concern. Katara didn't feel like Zuko deserved another scar, especially not for saving her life and she was going to do anything and everything he could to prevent it.

Sokka was actually still watching the firebender when Katara woke up, so he was now snoring loudly while snuggled up against Appa's furry back. Momo scampered around looking for bugs or berries to eat and Aang, Toph, Suki and Ty Lee were just waking up. Katara had no idea what to do with Ty Lee, but she didn't particularly care. Zuko was far more important and Ty Lee had at least proven herself to be a bit helpful. She really didn't seem like a bad person, but she had followed Azula's every order for the past few months.

Katara turned her attention back to the burns on Zuko's shoulder, which were now just a small set of light pink marks. Katara smiled; pleased with her work and the improvement she had made, and bent her water back into the water skin. She assumed that people would want breakfast, so she got up to go prepare something to appease their appetites. With very little access to necessary supplies and resources, the best Katara could do for breakfast was a weak stew. It wasn't very good, but Toph practically cried tears of joy after biting into it. Apparently Aang and Sokka were terrible cooks, though this didn't really surprise Katara at all. After eating a small portion of soup herself and being careful to leave aside a bowl for Sokka, Katara got up and looked around. She hadn't looked at her surroundings at all because they had landed while she was still asleep, and she had been too distracted to have time that morning.

They were well outside of the My Lai forest, and in a position that allowed them to see for miles. They were tucked away in some remote part of a large mountain range that ran through the southern part of the Fire Nation. Katara guessed that the volcano that the city of Sozin was held in must have been part of the same mountain range. To one side Katara could see miles and miles of beautiful pastures, rolling green hills and a sparkling coastline. On the other side she saw a few small villages and the My Lai forest. She had never realized how vast the forest actually was, it went back as far as she could see. It was a little bit like the frozen tundras of the South Pole, only instead of miles and miles of ice and snow it was a vast expanse of thousands upon thousands of trees.

It was a breathtaking sight, but Katara had little time to enjoy it. There were a lot of things that needed to be done and most of them were going to require a lot of discussion. Of course, many of these discussions were based on information that only Zuko knew, which was a little but problematic. For now the Gaang decided to resort to discussing the future of Ty Lee, who had no real say in the matter. "Alright guys, what do you think we should do about Ty Lee?" The only reply she was met with was Sokka's snoring and the sound of one more bug contributing its life to feeding Momo. "Ummm... Okay. Should we keep her or tell her to leave?"

"I don't know. It's kinda hard to say when we don't even know what side she thinks she is on. In fact, Toph and I know absolutely nothing." Aang spoke as though Ty Lee was not sitting right next to him, which she was.

"Speak for yourself, Twinkletoes. While I agree that _you_ know nothing, I think I am very intelligent." Toph tried to contain her laughter as Aang responded.

"That is _not_ what I meant. We don't know what happened with Azula. We don't know how Zuko got hurt." Aang was really bad at taking a joke, which made it even funnier for Toph.

"Guys, focus. I'll tell you what happened, just calm down." Katara told Aang and Toph about being captured by Azula, rescued by Suki and saved by Zuko. Aang almost looked jealous at the end, but Katara decided that she was simply imagining it. "I have no idea what happened from that point on. It looked like he had caught the lightning, then it exploded sending him hurtling through the air and into a tree. As Azula was about to finish him off Ty Lee jumped in. She chi-blocked Azula, who was _not_ happy, and then distracted the crew members so we could get away. I don't know what her intentions are, but she has already helped us."

"You guys are aware that she is right next to us, right?" Toph was confused as to why they weren't just asking Ty Lee what her intentions were. It seemed a lot easier than debating about it; especially with Toph there as a human lie detector.

"That's a good point. Ty Lee, what do you plan to do from now on?" Katara thought that the acrobat was at least worth giving another chance. She _had_ helped save Zuko's life after all. Plus the girl had always come across as nice, just fighting for the wrong side.

"I honestly don't know. I don't want to stay with Azula any more, she doesn't care about me at all. At the same time, I don't think I could fight against my own Nation, even if they are doing the wrong thing. Honestly, I don't want to fight at all. I don't want anyone to fight. It seems like there isn't even a point to all of this violence anyway. I have no idea what I should do." Toph confirmed that she was telling the truth before Aang responded.

"My people always taught that violence is never the answer, and that peace and harmony are keys to maintaining balance between different peoples. That is what our goal is. We aren't trying to take power or land or money, we just want to restore balance and order between the Nations. I only use violence as a last resort for necessary defense, and I hate the idea of taking someone else's life. You have good morals, but I definitely understand it if you don't want to fight for them." Suki and Toph were amazed at Aang's speech, which sounded incredibly mature to be coming from a twelve year old. Katara frowned at the obvious hole in what he said. How did Aang expect to win the war if he didn't kill the Firelord? That strategy definitely would not work whatever it was. Ozai needed to go down.

"I... I just need a little time to think." Ty Lee was going to pack up her things and leave, but Aang insisted that she stayed until she had made up her mind. Suki wasn't fond of the idea because the girl had been giving Sokka some weird looks and Suki still wasn't sure that the acrobat was trustworthy. Toph might be able to detect lies, but Suki didn't really care. There were plenty of good liars out there.

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Katara was using her waterbending to wash everyone's clothes when Aang approached her. Katara smiled at him and told him to sit, but Aang did not return the smile. He looked depressed, and Katara didn't like the feeling she was getting. "What's wrong, Aang? Are you okay?"

Aang stared out toward the ocean and refused to let Katara see any part of his face. "What's more important? The people you care about or power?" Katara thought that the question was very strange, and she had no idea what the point of it was.

"The people you care about, why?"

"All the time? No matter what? No amount of power is more important than people you care about?" Aang was still refusing to meet the waterbender's gaze.

"Not necessarily. It depends on how you use the amount of power you have." Katara was really confused by both the questions Aang was asking and the way he was acting.

"What is an example of when power is more important?"

"Well, the power to end the war is more important than any one person." Aang tensed way too much at this and Katara knew immediately that something was up. "Why are you asking me this, Aang? What's going on?"

"If I were to have to make a choice between, I don't know; say Sokka and improving my bending, which should I choose?" Aang was still not looking in Katara's direction, but the thought of losing her brother scared her.

"Wait what? What does this have to do with Sokka?"

"Nothing, it's only an example."

"Okay..." Katara paused to think. "Well since you've already mastered the Avatar state, I would say that Sokka is more important."

"And if I hadn't mastered the Avatar state?" Now Katara was getting really freaked out.

"You have mastered the Avatar state, right." Aang remained silent. "Aang, no. No. You mastered the Avatar state, how come you haven't mastered the Avatar state? You lied to all of us?" Katara was torn between being completely pissed, utterly depressed and incredibly horrified.

"I... I..." Aang took a deep breath. "To master the Avatar state I had to let go of someone... Someone I love." Aang turned to face her finally. "You."

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Azula walked around the airship impatiently waiting for the rest of her crew to arrive. A man approached her and bowed before stating his business. "Princess Azula, we watched the Avatar's bison leave the forest and we have an approximate area that they should be in. If we can get high enough into the sky we would likely be able to spot them from above. They headed toward the Southern Mountain Range. What are your orders, Princess?"

"Is the crew on board?" The man nodded. "And they did not capture anyone?" He shook his head. Azula huffed angrily and steam poured out of her mouth. "Very well, set a course for New Ozai. I have a _friend_ to visit."

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Momo was feeling a bit left out. Appa was sleeping so there went his first choice of buddies. Aang was in some depressed mood and talking to the blue girl, so neither of them were options. Momo already knew that the short girl hated him; she had made rocks chase after him multiple times. Not fun. He wasn't too sure about either of the new girls, and the non-Aang boy who made a lot of noise when he slept kept pushing Momo away every time he tried to play. So the only option left was the taller non-Aang boy.

Momo wasn't terribly fond of the idea of hanging with the unconscious guy, so he went into the forest to find himself a nice little snack. After foraging for close to half an hour, Momo came back with an assortment of different color berries and fruits. One thing he did like about Taller-boy was that he was always warm. Even now, when he was in some weird type of sleep, the boy was really warm. Momo set down his bounty of food and curled up on the boy's tattered shirt. The steady rhythm of the boy's breathing was soothing, and Momo enjoyed his relaxing meal peacefully.

He was down to about three blue berries and a large red one (which he was saving for last) when the boy moved suddenly, causing Momo to hurriedly jump off. He landed on all fours and curled his back upwards as his hair stuck up and he hissed as malevolently as he could. The boy did not seem to be awake, just moving randomly. It looked as though he were trying to avoid something, to protect his face maybe?

Momo knew that something had been wrong with the Taller-boy, so he decided to warn the loud sleeping one. He grabbed his pants and tugged while chirping and pointing toward the warm guy. He was still moving crazily and Momo was getting scared. The Loud one started yelling something, but the only word Momo understood was his name. The boy turned back to whatever it was he was doing, so Momo tried again.

After about ten minutes of clothing tugging and loud lemur-yelling, Momo had had enough. He went straight for the loud one's face and began to scratch and claw it like crazy. After about seven seconds (a little bit of payback) he jumped off and screeched while pointing to the Taller-boy. The blue boy yelled more before storming off. Momo turned to look at the warm guy. He was lying perfectly still, only his chest moved with the steady rhythm of his breathing.

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**A/N: Wow. That was long. I got bored and decided to throw a little Momo scene in at the end there. How stupid was it? Can anyone guess what Zuko was dreaming? I hope so, it's fairly obvious. Anyway, with that long chapter there is sure to be a bunch of mistakes, so try to ignore them. Or pm me and tell me. Or yell at me to actually get a beta. Whatever you prefer. Btw, Zuko will be waking up next chapter, so yeah. He's my favorite character and it's easier for me to write when he is in the story, but I don't know whether or not it's better. Um, oh! I got my schedule changed up (FINALLY!) and now I have a lot of free time. Hopefully it will mean good sized chapters for every update. So yeah, that's all. Review please! Or don't.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**A/N: Look at me updating a day early! **

**Disclaimer: I'm gonna start doing these once every five chapters because they're dumb, but I still don't own anything.**

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"Someone I love... You."

Katara's eyes widened in shock. She had known about Aang's crush in her for a long time now, but she had never thought it was so serious. And how could a crush prevent Aang from mastering the Avatar state? It didn't make any sense. "Wait, what? How does that... You love me? How would that keep you from controlling the Avatar state?"

Aang took a deep breath. "To master the Avatar state I have to unlock all seven chakras. The last one has to do with putting the needs of the world before those that I care about, and that means letting go of you." Aang had averted his eyes again and wasn't looking at Katara. He wasn't sure if he would like the reaction he would see.

"But you went into the Avatar state in Ba Sing Se, so haven't you already mastered it?"

"I thought so, but I still feel pretty much the same way. I mean, I think that ending the war is more important than my feelings for you, but for some reason I just can't get over them." Katara took a while to process everything before responding. Aang had just admitted that he loved her, but he didn't want to? He had to let her go to master the Avatar state, but he couldn't seem to do so.

"So you're saying that you don't want to be in love with me, but you are?"

"Yes. I mean, I don't want to hurt your feelings Katara, but I have to let go of you. I have to end this war and I can't let anything get in the way. Not even you." Aang was really worried that Katara would be hurt, but she seemed to be handling it pretty well.

"Aang, that's perfectly fine. I know that ending this war comes first, and I know you would do anything to win it. It can be hard to let go of people you care about, but I'm glad you are being mature about it. And don't worry about my feelings; concentrate on what you need to do. We're both still pretty young, so there will be plenty of time for relationships later." As Katara said this, Zuko's words popped into her head.

_"You have to be honest with him."_

"Yeah, okay. I'll focus on the war for now and relationships later. Does that mean we can be together after the war?" The hopeful look in Aang's eyes nearly broke Katara's heart. She knew this wasn't going to go well, but it had to be done.

_"If there is no chance of you two being together, he deserves to know."_

"I-" Katara was cut off as Sokka's loud voice reverberated through their campsite.

"What do you mean Katara and Zuko kissed?"

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Suki sat down next to Sokka who had just been yelling at Momo. The lemur scampered back over to Zuko and resumed eating his berries. "Hey, is Momo bullying you again?" Sokka smiled a huge smile at his girlfriend despite his scratched up face.

"Haha, very funny. I'm so glad you're okay, how did Azula get Kyoshi warrior outfits, and why were you in prison with Iroh?" Sokka had been incredibly worried about Suki after he had found out Azula had stolen her uniforms, and was relieved to find out that she was alright.

"She, Ty Lee, and some gloomy girl attacked us after we found Appa. He was alone and seemed really scared and hurt, so we nursed him back to health before sending him off to find you guys. Azula ambushed us as he was leaving and captured all of the warriors and I. They figured out that I was the leader and were going to have me executed publicly alongside Iroh. They were making some statement about rebels and traitors. Luckily Zuko and your sister busted us out."

"But they didn't hurt you or anything, right?" Sokka had been terrified that the Fire Nation would torture his girlfriend and he couldn't do anything to stop them.

"Not really, at least not very badly. I had a couple of scrapes and bruises from Azula, but nothing major. Seriously Sokka, I'm fine. You worry way too much. I can take care of myself you know." Sokka remembered having this conversation some time ago, and he really hated that people he cared about felt the need to take care of themselves all the time. Why couldn't they just let him protect them every second of every day? Was that really too much to ask?

"I know you can take care of yourself, you are one of the strongest people I've ever met. I just don't want to see you get hurt. I really care about you a lot, Suki. Please just promise me that you won't let anything too bad happen to you?"

"I promise, Sokka. I won't so anything to get myself hurt too badly. Oh, and by the way, if you want to protect someone, it should be your sister. She gets into trouble all the time." Suki left out the fact that a lot of said trouble was Zuko's fault, but it reminded her of something very important.

"I know she does, but she refuses to just let me take care of her. I know she is capable of making her own decisions but she tends to take far too many risks." It was true, Katara had always been one to take a lot of risks.

"Yep, but Zuko seemed to do a pretty good job of keeping her safe when you couldn't." Sokka's face turned into a very unhappy one.

"What do you mean? She got attacked by Azula. How is that safe?"

"She's been attacked by Azula while travelling with you. Besides, they made it into and out of a high security prison in the capital city of the Fire Nation without being detected. That's pretty impressive. Not to mention the fact that the guy is over there unconscious after being hit hard to protect your sister."

"I know, it's just that... it's hard for me to just trust the guy. I don't know him very well and he has spent an awful lot of time being our enemy. I know I'm being way too harsh on him, but I guess I'm just worried. I'll make an effort to try and get to know him better once he wakes up. According to Katara he's actually a good guy deep down." Sokka rolled his eyes at the last part and Suki giggled a little bit.

"Yeah, Katara would say that." She continued to giggle while trying to keep from completely laughing. It was really funny to think of how Katara telling Sokka about her little thing with Zuko would go down.

"What do you mean? Why is that so funny?" Suki took a moment to catch her breath and focused on not breaking down again.

"Well the two of them are awfully close. They kissed a few nights ago, but neither one of them knew that I was still awake and watching them, so don't tell her I know." Suki burst into another fit of giggles at Sokka's expression, which was one of shock, horror, hatred, and a little bit of queasiness.

"What do you mean Katara and Zuko kissed?"

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Iroh smiled as the great City of Omashu came into view. He was travelling with Master Piandao and Jeong-jeong and planned on finding the remnants of Omashu's rebel forces. They would take the city back from the Fire Nation, rescue King Bumi and head to Ba Sing Se to try and liberate it during the eclipse. Most of the Fire Nation soldiers had been sent to help contain the situation in Ba Sing Se, so Iroh figured that taking the city would be fairly easy.

He stopped his eel-hound and turned toward a nearby cave. "I think this is a good place to stop for the night, gentlemen. Tomorrow we can search for the rebels and take back the city." Piandao and Jeong-jeong agreed and made their way into the cave. It was small and cramped, but it would do for one night. "Who wants some tea?"

XXX

The look of pure hurt on Aang's face made Katara wish that she loves him the way he loved her, but she didn't. "You... You... You _kissed_ Zuko? How could you? Is that why you decided to go with him? You wanted to spend time with him?" Katara desperately fought the tears that were stinging her eyes.

"Aang, no. That's not it at all. We just-"

"Why did you lead me on like that? I thought you cared about me too, but I guess not. No wonder you were so worried about him." Aang was furious and felt completely betrayed. It was like being struck by lightning all over again.

"I wasn't trying to lead you on, and Zuko and I aren't together. I went with him because it seemed like the best option at the time. I do care about you Aang, you know I do." Katara was losing the battle with her eyes and tears were streaming down her face. Aang looked so hurt and broken.

"No Katara, I don't know. I thought you liked me the way I liked you. I thought you loved me."

"I do love you Aang!" She almost added 'like a brother', but decided not to.

"Well you have a funny way of showing it. How could you care about Zuko more than me?"

"It's not like that Aang. Please just let me explain."

"Did you kiss him?" Aang was staring straight into Katara's eyes as Sokka and Suki looked on. The tension in the air was thicker than morning fog.

"I-"

"Did you kiss him, yes or no?"

"I... Yes, I did." Katara looked down feeling ashamed even though she knew she had nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn't her fault that Aang was more like a little brother to her and that Zuko... wasn't. Aang opened his mouth to reply but closed it before saying anything. He didn't want to look weak in front of everyone, so he opened his glider and took off. Katara was left wiping her eyes and trying to stop the tears.

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Aang was kneeling over a small stream he had found and trying to wipe his eyes. He didn't want to cry. This was a good thing really. It meant that he could let go of Katara and she would have someone to fall back on, so no one would be hurt too badly. Unfortunately the idea of Katara falling back on Zuko was one Aang did not like. He normally wasn't jealous, but he was definitely angry with Zuko at the moment. It's not like it was actually Zuko's fault, or anybody's for that matter, but Aang couldn't help blaming the firebender a bit. "Hey Aang, are you okay?"

How did he miss Toph walking up on him, the girl was hardly quiet. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's- *sniff*- not a- *sniff*-big deal." Aang felt pathetic for not being able to hold his composure, but he didn't really care at the moment.

"Look, I know a little bit about loving someone who has feelings for someone else. I know it hurts and I know it's hard, but there's really nothing you can do about it. You just have to suck it up and move on sometimes, you know?" Aang was confused as to what she meant by the first part, but it definitely wasn't the advice he wanted to hear.

"Really? And how would you know? Most people don't just 'suck it up' all the time, Toph. Not everyone can be as uncaring as you are." Toph wasn't about to show how much that hurt her.

"You can't be so negative about this. Now you won't feel bad about letting her go, so technically this is kind of what you wanted. I know that you wanted her to return your feelings, but that's not how love works sometimes. Besides, you didn't even give Katara a chance to explain. Maybe you overreacted." This made Aang angry again, and he quickly whirled on his earthbending teacher.

"You don't know anything about this. You don't love anyone but yourself. You left your own parents because you didn't care about them, so how could you possibly know what it's like to care about someone? You just bottle everything up and don't care about anything or anyone unless it involves you!" Toph knew Aang didn't mean it, but it hurt the same.

"That's not true. I know exactly how you feel. Hurt, sad, like the person you care about doesn't even notice you. Like even though you are always there for them when they need you the most they don't even seem to notice. Yeah, I know exactly how that feels. And by the way, I care about both you and Katara, and I think you are being immature about this, especially for you. Normally you make the right decisions and I back you up on them, but this time you are out of line." Both benders were barely fighting back tears, but while Toph's were years of hurt Aang's were tears of anger.

"Oh please, who do you care about that doesn't notice you? You might think you know how I feel, but you don't, and you never will!" Aang turned and was about to take off again when Toph responded.

"I have no idea how you think I'm the blind one. Open your eyes Twinkletoes." With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Aang alone with his thoughts once again.

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_Everything was black. At first he thought he was either dead or blind, but slowly things began to come into focus. He had no idea where he was of where be was running, just that he was going the right way. He turned sharply to his right with Toph, Sokka, and Aang right behind him. After veering left at a small fork and making a hard right turn again, Zuko had to skid to a stop to avoid falling into a pool of magma. He vaguely heard someone asking him what to do next before he quickly bent the molten rock out of the way. Using a technique that looked oddly similar to Katara's waterbending Zuko was able to clear a path large enough for all of them to walk through._

_Upon arriving at the other side Zuko quickly took the lead again and bolted down another passageway. The rock paths seemed man-made, as though they were done with tools instead of bending. A few more turns and Zuko was face to face with a large metal door._

_Suddenly he was in a room he had never seen before, fighting off Azula as best as he could. For some reason he couldn't bend, but neither could she. Dai Li agents were keeping the others occupied as Zuko tried to pin his sister down. He couldn't hear any words but he knew that she was taunting him, and this made him furious. He lunged at her and tried to land a kick to her side. She dodged and sprinted out of the room with two Dai Li in tow._

_Zuko was now seeing Sokka charging Azula with his sword at the ready. Azula was standing still and smirking. Without thinking, Zuko shot a small blast of fire at the girl's left hand and a small dagger came flying out. Sokka pinned her up against the wall and began yelling._

_Aang took in a deep breath before opening two gigantic doors. The boy stepped in and Zuko noticed that the room seemed to be filled with fire. Most of what came next was incredibly blurry, but Zuko was sure he would never forget the last bit. Aang being slowly consumed by flames, reaching and calling out for help, but Zuko found that he could not move._

_The scene changed once again and Zuko recognized it as the palace city. He saw a large army of Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe soldiers marching away from the city and toward a small group of machines that looked oddly like fish. Suddenly eight war balloons rose from behind the palace followed closely by six airships. Zuko watched as Appa took off with Katara on his back, aiming to take out some of the smaller balloons. As she was cutting the top of one in half, a ball of fire crashed onto Appa's side. The beast moaned in pain and fought to stay upright, only to be hit by another large blast. After two more direct hits the beast fell. Katara was hurtling toward the ground and Appa was out cold. Zuko turned and saw the machines blowing up one by one, and turned back just in time to see Katara hitting the ground. The combination of her scream and the resounding_THUD_made Zuko sick._

He woke with a scream to the only sight he wanted to see at that moment. The blue eyes of his favorite waterbender were staring straight down at him.

"Zuko! You're awake!" Katara embraced him and Zuko ignored the tears that were making his chest wet as well as the pain in his head and shoulder. He smiled as he hugged the waterbender tightly.

He couldn't remember his dream, only that it seemed really important. He figured it had something to do with Katara, because at the moment he wanted nothing more than to hold onto her forever.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: I posted the first chapter of my new story, Meant To Live yesterday, so this update is a bit shorter than usual. That said, it breaks the 50,000 word mark on the one month anniversary of the fic! That's good, right? The only thing that would be better would be hitting the 75 review mark; just saying. If you like this story, give Meant To Live a chance, it is a Zutara and I think that the plot is better, but w/e. Here you go!**

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After Zuko finally let go of her, Katara took off to go find the others and tell them Zuko had woken up. He worked his way onto his feet and began to stretch out his sore muscles and stiff joints. His shoulder hurt like crazy and his back and head were not in good shape either. He was a bit dizzy from the effort it took to stand up and stay balanced, but he was more than strong enough to stand on his own. While he was stretching and massaging the hurt shoulder Ty Lee came bounding into the campground. She had gone off to try and find something to eat since everyone was ignoring her; all of them were too worried about Zuko and Katara's relationship to pay the acrobat any attention.

"Zuko! You're awake!" Zuko turned and tried to shoot into a fighting stance. He ended up toppling backwards and landing on his hurt shoulder.

"Ow!" Zuko quickly shook off the pain and tried to shoot a blast of fire at Ty Lee. Idiotically he used his injured arm to bend and, though it did work, it caused a searing and brutal pain throughout his body. Ty Lee jumped over the weak attack and quickly approached the writhing Zuko. He was clutching his arm and trying not to lose consciousness.

"Are you okay? Why did you do that? You're far too weak to bend right now, you should be resting." Zuko slowly calmed down and forced his eyes open. He looked up at the Fire Nation girl and tried to mask the obvious pain he was in. She didn't seem to be attacking him so Zuko cautiously sat up.

"I'm strong enough to do anything I want! Why are you here? Where's Azula?" Zuko was worried that Azula would ambush Katara again. In fact, he didn't even remember how they got away from Azula in the first place. Why was he even still alive?

"Azula is heading to Omashu to arrest Mai. I'm here because I helped you guys escape Azula and I'm not sure what to do yet."

"You helped us escape? What happened?"

"After you got hit by Azula's lightning she was going to kill you. I couldn't let her do that so I stepped in. Katara and Suki took you to a nearby stream so Katara could heal you while I distracted the crew. Then Aang showed up with the bison and we got away." Zuko was looking for any sign that the girl was lying, but found none. He was confused as to why the others would even let her stay, but he supposed that if she really did help them escape it made sense.

"Oh... Then I guess I should be thanking you, huh?" Ty Lee flashed a huge smile and helped Zuko to his feet.

"No, not really. Maybe you could consider us even though?" She still felt bad about attacking Zuko earlier and was hoping that she could make at least one friend in the group. She had already decided that staying with them was her safest option, though she still had trouble with the thought of turning her back on her Nation.

Zuko forced a small and pained smile before bowing to Ty Lee. "Sounds good. We're even." Ty Lee bowed back and smiled again. She and Zuko had never been close, but they had gotten to know each other a little bit back in the Fire Nation as kids. She knew Zuko's past but had no idea what it was that drove him now. He had always only been trying to impress his father as a kid, so the changes he made seemed very odd to her. She thought that maybe Zuko knew something she didn't, and honestly she was looking for a good reason to pick a side.

"Good, you should seriously take it easy on your shoulder from now on though. The others don't really trust me and I don't want them to think I hurt you. Not that I blame them for not trusting me or anything." Zuko sat down by the dying campfire and began to focus his breathing. He wanted to make sure his bending was still working normally.

"So what are you going to do from now on?" Zuko was focusing intently on the campfire and after a few seconds it began to rise and fall along with the pattern of his breathing.

"I wouldn't mind staying with all of you, but I doubt that's and option. I just don't know what to do any more. Mai isn't fighting in the war anymore, you're fighting against it, and I just don't know what the right thing for me to do is right now. What do you think I should do?" Zuko thought for a second before he found a good answer.

"I think you need to look at yourself and ask some big questions: Who are you? And what do you want?" It wasn't very often that Zuko could quote his uncle (mostly because he hardly ever understood what the man meant) so he took advantage of the opportunity. Ty Lee pondered this as she took a seat around the fire and waited for Katara and the others to return.

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Katara moved quickly as she searched for her brother, Suki and Toph. She wasn't sure that she wanted to confront Aang just yet so she planned to send someone else to get him. As she got closer to a small stream she heard faint voices off in the distance. She followed them until Sokka and Suki came into view. "I know that he is the prince of the Fire Nation, Sokka, but you should at least give him a chance." Katara wasn't sure why, but she immediately hid behind the nearest rock and eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Look, I would be mad at him if he was Water Tribe. He KISSED my sister! No one is allowed to do that, ever!" Katara was angered by this but she managed to keep her composure. She heard Suki laughing before the warrior responded.

"You don't honestly think that nobody was ever going to kiss Katara, do you? Okay, so maybe you don't like the guy, that's fine. And the death threats if he kisses your sister again are expected, but as for him joining the group and teaching Aang firebending, I really think he deserves a second chance. I think he has done enough to prove himself, he saved Katara's life."

"I know. Zuko can be dangerous. Even when he doesn't want to be and-"

"Hey! Sokka! Suki!" They both turned to see Katara approaching and waving at them. She seemed to be in a much better mood. When she finally got near them and stopped the waterbender was slightly out of breath and panting. "Zuko… is awake… You guys… get Aang… I'll… find Toph." Katara was hoping that they believed her little act. She didn't want them to think that she had heard any of their previous conversation.

"He's up? Good, now I can go give that son of a-"

"Sokka," Suki scolded him.

"A piece of my mind. I'll teach him to make out with my sister." Sokka didn't seem to realize what he had just said, he was far too furious. Suki grabbed his hand and began pulling him off in some random direction while she called back to Katara.

"Alright, we'll find Aang. It will probably take us a while, so you and Toph will most likely beat us back to camp." Katara smiled as she watched Suki drag her brother away. The Kyoshi Warrior could be really devious when she wanted to be.

After searching around for a little while longer Katara saw someone hunched down near a tree. She thought it was Aang at first and she was about to turn away. Then she heard a muffled sob and realized that it had to be Toph, and she was crying. Katara's motherly instincts kicked in and she immediately approached the blind girl to try to comfort her. "Toph, are you okay? What happened?"

Toph had her face in her arms and didn't look up at Katara. "Nothing, I'm fine. Just leave me alone, I just need some time."

"Are you sure?" Toph nodded. "Okay, but if you ever want to talk, I'm here to listen alright?" Toph wiped her eyes, looked up, and tried to force a small smile.

"I know, Sugar Queen. Thanks." Katara smiled back at her friend. It was obvious that she was sad about something, but Katara knew that if it was something she couldn't handle Toph would ask for help. She wasn't one to show a lot of emotion, so she probably wanted to regain her composure before talking about it with anyone. Katara slowly got up and turned to head back to camp. Toph would talk about it later, but for now Katara would leave her alone.

"You're welcome. Oh, by the way, Zuko's up. We are all going to discuss some things so join us whenever you're ready." Katara started back toward camp as Toph tried to stop being so emotional. She _hated _feeling emotional.

After a few minutes the earthbender got up and made her way slowly back to camp, hoping Aang would be too distracted by Zuko to confront her. She didn't really want to face him right now, she was still pretty mad about him snapping at her.

As she approached the camp she could feel everybody's heartbeats, most of which were way off their normal patterns. Toph smiled to herself. _Time to mix things up a bit._


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Wow, it's been a while. Sorry, I had a small bout of writer's block. I thought doing other things would inspire me, but they didn't. Instead, I have made a 50 song playlist and I'm forcing myself to write until it is over. I'll try not to take so long anymore. Btw, up until this point there hasn't been much reason for the T rating. It is rated for future violence and some strong language, which starts now. Just warning you. Enjoy!**

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"What the hell makes you think it's okay to kiss my sister? She is way too young to be kissing guys!"

"I am not too young! You don't tell me what to do, Sokka!" Katara wasn't happy with Sokka's opening statement toward Zuko, who decided to be sarcastic and immature.

"Does that mean she's old enough to kiss girls? And isn't Suki the same age?" Katara blushed from embarrassment while Sokka's face grew red with anger.

"No, Katara is not old enough to be kissing anyone! If it wasn't for the fact that you saved her life I would be pounding your sorry ass into the ground! Keep your dirty Fire Nation hands and mouth away from her!" Zuko and Sokka completely ignored Katara and Suki, who were trying to break them up.

"You think you could beat me in a fight? Please, most four year old girls could wipe the floor with you. I'll beat you with both arms behind my back and a blindfold over my eyes!"

"Oh, right. I forgot how great you are fighting. Sorry if it's tough to remember when you can't even control your own sister!"

"Seeing as your sister kissed me, neither can you." Sokka lunged at Zuko in anger, but ended up crashing face first into a brand new wall of earth.

"Alright, that's enough! Break it up! You two are stupid and pathetic! We are on the same team! Now you two are going to sit down and talk this out or I will bury you up to your necks in rock and use your heads as chairs!" Both boys stopped and stared wide-eyed at the blind little girl. Both immediately complied to the twelve year olds demands. They were both feeling fairly weak about being afraid of a little girl, but she was really tough!

"Fine, what do we have to talk about, Zuko's annoying stupidity and pathetic lack of self-control?" Zuko narrowed his eyes in anger.

"Actually I think we need to discuss Sokka's mental disability. His ridiculously small brain and insane lack of fighting ability are going to give us a lot of trouble in taking down the Fire Nation."

"Oh yeah? Well-" Sokka started before being cut off by Toph again.

"Shut up! We are going to figure out a plan and you two are going to get over your petty problems!" Zuko and Sokka both crossed their arms in a childish manner while turning their heads with an indignant "hmph!" "Now then, Katara, would you like to start?"

"Sure... First of all, Sokka. You don't get a say in my personal life, so don't tell me who I can and can't kiss." Sokka opened his mouth to protest but Katara didn't stop to let him. "Also, Zuko saved my life, so you have no right to be mad at him. It wasn't his choice to be born a firebender, and that doesn't make him a bad person." Zuko stuck his tongue out at Sokka in what could only be described as the most immature fashion possible. He was barely able to keep a straight face when Katara turned to address him. "Second, Zuko. Stop instigating things. You know Sokka doesn't like you, so don't go out of your way to make things worse." Sokka grabbed his stomach and faked a laugh while pointing at Zuko, who rolled his eyes in response. Katara mistook the gesture as Zuko ignoring her and became outraged. "What, you just don't care about what I have to say? I can't believe you would actually roll your eyes at me. At least try not to let me see it!"

Sokka actually laughed this time as Zuko quickly defended himself. "No, I wasn't rolling my eyes at you, it was Sokka. He was being an immature child." Zuko said this as though he hadn't been doing the exact same thing moments earlier. Katara refused to believe him until Toph stepped back in.

"He's telling the truth, Sugar Queen. Alright, now that we have that settled, it's time to figure out what we are going to do until the invasion starts... Where's Aang?" Toph wasn't thrilled about talking to Aang again, but he needed to be a part of the planning process.

"Sokka and I couldn't find him anywhere. Appa's still here but his glider isn't. Maybe he is flying around to cool off a bit."

"No, I'm right here." Everyone tensed at the sound of Aang's voice. He had been flying around, but he just landed and snuck up behind everybody.

"Aang, are you okay?" Katara was truly concerned. Aang was her friend and she hated herself for hurting him so badly.

"I'm fine. I am willing to put aside my personal problems until this war is over. We need to focus on the invasion, so Zuko and Sokka, quit fighting. Clearly Katara doesn't care about how her friends feel about her relationship with Zuko. As much as we want to get rid of him, Zuko is going to be important for this invasion." Zuko's eyes widened slightly in shock at the Avatar's mood. Katara was hurt badly by Aang's accusation and she fought her best not to cry. "Zuko is going to teach me firebending and help Sokka plan out the invasion. That's the plan. Meeting over." Aang turned around and started to leave before he heard Katara run out of the clearing in tears. He knew he had hurt her, it was his plan. She deserved it for hurting him so badly. So why did he feel so terrible about it?

"Wow, you're not even going to go after her? You aren't going to apologize? Lesson one, _Aang_: control your damn emotions." With that Zuko got up and followed after Katara. Sokka was right behind him and Toph followed Aang as he went off on his own again. Suki and Ty Lee were left alone.

"Um... So... Sorry about the whole attacking and imprisoning you thing." Ty Lee made the situation even more awkward with her half-minded comment.

"Yeah... Um, it's okay... I guess. Maybe you could show me how to do that chi-blocking thing sometime? That would be, uh... cool?"

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"Katara, are you okay? Aang didn't mean that, he's just angry and hurt. He needs some more time to get a hold of himself." Zuko was trying to comfort Katara, who had tears coming down her cheeks in gallons.

"No. He hates me! I knew he liked me but I never did anything about it. Now he is going to hate me forever!" Sokka came stumbling into the clearing and joined Zuko in attempting to calm his younger sister.

"No Katara, Aang doesn't hate you. Zuko is right, he's just mad. I bet he is already trying to find you so he can apologize." Katara tried to control herself, but she couldn't manage to stop her tears. She felt terrible about hurting Aang. He was her best friend.

"Look, Katara. It's not a big deal. Just tell Aang you don't like me anymore and he'll be fine. We need him to stay focused, so if that means that you and I can't have any kind of relationship, then that is a sacrifice we have to make."

"No. If Aang is being childish and immature it is his problem, not yours. He will get over it Katara, you can't change the way you feel to make Aang happy."

"What are you talking about Sokka? It is obvious that Katara and I are a huge distraction to the entire group. It's best if we just end it now."

"Maybe, but you can't give up on someone you care about just because it is hard. If you two want to be together then you should. Don't let other people tell you what you can and can't do."

"That might be true, but this is different. We are in the middle of a war and we are both too young to know how serious our relationship is. It's best if we just set it aside and focus on winning the war, no matter what the cost."

"No you're wrong!"

"You're wrong!"

"Moron!"

"Imbecile!"

The boys fighting became incoherent as they called each other names back and forth. They finally stopped bickering when Katara burst out laughing. "You guys are idiots! Three minutes ago you were fighting about the exact opposite things. Sokka didn't want me near Zuko who said it wasn't Sokka's call. Now Zuko is saying we shouldn't be together and Sokka says we should. You two are really dumb, but you did manage to cheer me up. I think I need to go talk to Aang. You two can tear each other's heads off if you want. It's not like you will ever agree with each other." Katara left to go find Aang as Sokka and Zuko watched her leave. Zuko turned to Sokka and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Do you really think we should be together?" Sokka sighed and looked down.

"You make her happy, and you were willing to do anything to protect her, so maybe you're not all bad. I swear though, you hurt her like Aang just did and I will tear you apart." Zuko smiled in a smirkish way.

"I would love to see you try, but I don't think I'll ever get that chance." Sokka smiled back at the Fire Prince.

"It wouldn't be too hard; I'd just scare you by yelling Azula." Sokka laughed as Zuko's half smirk-half smile turned into a full smile.

Maybe there was a chance that they could get along.

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Toph approached Aang from behind. She felt like she had just done this, but she was hoping that it wouldn't end the same way as it had before. "That was out of line Aang. First of all, Katara cares a lot about your feelings and you know it. In my opinion, she cares about your feelings way too much. You are being immature and pathetic. She doesn't like you the way you like her. I know it's hard, but get over it! Stop pitying yourself long enough to realize that it doesn't matter! You are twelve; you have your whole life to worry about girls. So for the next month suck it up! Normally I think you are a great person and a very mature Avatar despite your age, but right now, you just make me depressed. That's all I have to say to you right now. Bye."

Toph started to leave but Aang stopped her. "Wait... I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, it's Kata-"

"No, I'm sorry to you. The way I treated you earlier was wrong and I know it. I didn't mean what I said." Toph turned so Aang couldn't see that she was smiling and fighting back a blush.

"It's okay, but I think you owe someone else the same apology." Aang stood up and walked closer to her.

"Yeah, I think I do. I really need to get over Katara; she is a bit too old for me anyway." Aang laughed half-heartedly at his miserable attempt at an excuse to let go of his feelings for Katara. "By the way, who were you talking about when you said you cared about someone?" Toph blushed worse as she quickly built up her courage.

"I... It was..." Just as she was about to say 'you,' Katara called out to them.

"Aang! Toph! Guys, come back! We need to talk!" Aang smiled at Toph as if she could see it before grabbing her hand and pulling her with him.

"Come on, we really need to get things settled."


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: I'm back... After a really long time. I'm going to skip the part where I apologize and list a bunch of lame excuses and get straight down to business. This chapter may seem like it is skipping some stuff (which it is) but you are going to have to trust me. Yeah. Enjoy!**

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Katara sighed in her sleeping bag as she tried to get some sleep. She was having a really tough time after everything that had happened. First she went on a rescue mission with Zuko and ended up bringing back Suki instead of Iroh, then she started to develop feelings for Zuko, and then she hurt Aang. He had come back and apologized, and he seemed as though he was completely unaffected by the whole incident. Katara was impressed by the control he seemed to have over his emotions. Impressed and worried.

Katara sat up as her head began to hurt. She figured that she was probably over thinking things and needed to go for a walk; get some fresh air. Standing up, the waterbender sighed again and left her tent as quietly as possible.

She noticed that the fire was still burning and decided to go put it out... until she saw Zuko hunched over it. She watched as the prince stared intently into the flames. While pondering whether or not she should make her presence known, Katara noticed that Zuko seemed like he was emotional, almost like he was about to cry.

"You know, most people at least say hello before staring at someone like a total creep." Katara was caught off-guard; she thought Zuko hadn't noticed her.

"Well, I, uhh..."

"It's fine. I was just joking." Zuko gave her a small smile and motioned for her to come sit next to him.

Katara smiled back at him as she walked over. "Then I guess you can see why I was so flustered." Zuko chuckled as Katara sat down next to him.

"Yeah, it isn't the most common thing for me, huh? Why are you up so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Zuko shrugged and went back to staring at the fire, which was his way of saying 'I asked first.' "I couldn't sleep. I guess I'm just a little... overwhelmed. So much has happened I just don't know what to make of it. That's probably the same reason you're still up too."

Katara looked at Zuko who was now poking the fire with a stick. "No, I was just planning Aang's first firebending lesson."

"Really? Why would that take so long?" _And why would you be so emotional about it_, she thought about adding.

"It didn't. It got me thinking about my family, which is a pretty... sore subject." Zuko seemed to deflate with the mention of his family. "See, with my family it was very important to be a good bender, but Azula was always better than me. I spent so much time trying to get better, trying to make my father proud, and it was all for nothing. I just can't stop thinking about how much good I could have done."

Katara stared at the unmarked side of Zuko's face while he continued to stare into the crackling fire. "Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not like you had a way of knowing that what you were doing was wrong. And besides, I'm sure your father was proud of you, even if Azula was better." Katara was hoping to get Zuko to open up further; encouragement had always worked well with Aang.

Her hopes started to sink as Zuko let out a cold, humorless chuckle. "Ha, my father... proud of me? I doubt it."

"Well obviously not _now,_ but you know, before you were banished?" Katara grimaced as her not so subtle hint left her mouth.

"You do know I'm the prince, right?" Zuko didn't need to look to see Katara's glare, but he continued without waiting for a response. "The only person with the power to banish me was..."

"Your father." Katara's eyes widened in shock with the realization. She actually felt pretty stupid about not figuring it out sooner. She couldn't decide whether or not to ask what he was banished for.

"Yeah, my _father_." Both Zuko and Katara noticed as the fire began to grow taller, but Zuko didn't care. He was really angry thinking about everything that had happened now. It was cruel and unjustified, yet Zuko had spent more than three years trying to make his father happy. The same man that had taken everything from him, his country, his throne, his mother, and even half of his face.

"Why did he-" she stopped halfway. She didn't want to make Zuko more upset, and she was still afraid of what the answer might be.

"Why did he banish me?" Katara nodded. "It's a long story."

Zuko finally turned I look at her as Katara gestured to the surrounding area and gave a small shrug. "I think we have some time." Zuko looked down in his usual way of walling himself off. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Zuko looked back up into Katara's eyes. "No. If you really want to know... I'll tell you. I was thirteen years old. I wanted to make my father proud of me, but my bending was moving along very slowly. I begged my uncle to let me into a war meeting even though I wasn't supposed to be allowed in. I thought that maybe I could become a great general and make my father proud that way. Uncle let me in under the condition that I would keep quiet. I happily agreed and tried to stay calm as I took my seat."

"The meeting started and I quickly realized how boring being Firelord had to be. It must have been half an hour before they actually started discussing strategies. Once they did, some arrogant general proposed a plan to take a small Earth Kingdom city of no real significance. He wanted to send in an entire troop of new recruits as distractions for the opposing soldiers. While our divisions were getting decimated, a small group of elite soldiers would sneak around back and take them out."

Zuko's voice was completely devoid of any emotion besides anger now, and Katara was starting to wonder how badly this story could end.

"I didn't like the plan. I thought it was unfair to sacrifice the lives of soldiers loyal to our cause, much less the lives of a group of younger men. I spoke up. To this day I still don't know whether to regret my decision or to be proud of myself, all I know is that I can't take it back, even if I want to. My father was not exactly happy with my outburst." Zuko gave a cold, mirthless chuckle before continuing.

"Hell, he probably wasn't even happy that I was still alive at that point. He said that I was to fight an Agni Kai, a Fire Duel, with the man I had disrespected. He said I had to redeem myself. I looked at the old general and barely kept from laughing. I knew I could take him without breaking a sweat, so I accepted the duel."

"We were supposed to fight in a large stadium, filled with hundreds of high ranking officials and their families. I was actually kind of excited going in; I saw it as a chance to prove myself. I turned to face my opponent and came face to face with my father." Katara gasped at this point as Zuko struggled to suppress his rage.

"I sunk to my hands and knees and begged for his forgiveness. I told him that I was only trying to help, that I was trying to make him proud. He told me to fight him, but I refused. I stayed on my hands and knees and cried like a little girl. I beg and pleaded, to my own _father_, for his forgiveness. He said I was being weak, that I was disrespecting him by refusing to fight."

Zuko was heating up quite a bit, and the campfire had grown substantially. Katara had to scoot away a bit to avoid the heat, and was making mental notes of her nearest sources of water in case Zuko set the forest on fire accidentally. She was trying to process the words she was hearing, but she was too afraid of what was coming next to focus.

"Then he said the words that will haunt me until the day a die. He looked down at me, his only son, and said: 'You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.' I looked up to see fire. It flooded my vision and time slowed to a near stop. All I remember is the pain and the smell of my face burning."

Zuko slowed down and tried to catch his breath. The campfire slowly went back down as Zuko focused on his breathing and Katara tried to stop her tears. Zuko took one more deep breath before continuing.

"I woke up in the infirmary a few days later. Azula was next to me holding a note and trying not to smile. She handed me the note saying that father asked her to give it to me, and then she wished me good luck and left. I had no clue what she was wishing me luck on, only that she didn't actually mean it. I read that note so many times over the next few months that I can recite it in my sleep. It read: _Zuko, because of your recent disrespect to authority and the shame you have brought to yourself, your family, and your nation, you are hereby banished. Your banishment is permanent unless you manage to restore your honor by capturing the Avatar. Signed, Firelord Ozai._"

"Signed Firelord Ozai. Not even a: love dad. What kind of father could even think of doing that crap?" Zuko focused on keeping his temper in check as he glared into the fire, hating it for everything it reminded him of.

"A terrible one." Zuko looked back at Katara in surprise. He had forgotten that she was even there. "I don't know how anyone could ever do that to their child, I'm so sorry Zuko."

Zuko turned his eyes to the ground as he responded in a carefully controlled voice. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," Katara pulled Zuko's face so he was looking at her again, "It's horrible that you had to go through that. What your father did was unthinkable, but it definitely matters. It's important to who you are."

"Yeah, it made me into a horrible person; someone I hate so much I can't believe it was ever me. But now, now it means nothing. I refuse to let that define me anymore." Zuko was starting to get angry again, but Katara refused to back down.

"It doesn't define you, but it is a large part of your drive. You just have to make sure it drives you in the right direction. And it does influence who you are now. You loved your father. You just wanted him to return that; you wanted him to be proud of you. The fact that he hurt you so badly is the reason you wall yourself off so much. You're afraid to trust people because you're afraid to get hurt. It's completely understandable, but if you want to be free of that moment, you have to let it go, no matter how hard it is."

Katara enveloped Zuko in a hug and rested her head on his shoulder as he did the same. She closed her eyes and felt herself drifting off to sleep, but decided that being there foe Zuko was more important. As she started to submit to the power of sleep, she could have sworn she felt something wet on her shoulder.

It took him awhile, but Zuko finally managed to pull himself together. He lifted his head to find Katara asleep on his shoulder. He smiled to himself as he stared at her peacefully sleeping face. The question was what to do with her. Should he put her in her tent and go to bed or stay where he was.

The benefits to staying were fairly obvious, but the consequences were bad. Tension was still high between Katara, Aang, and himself, and having Aang wake up to his ex-crush sleeping on his firebending master's shoulder didn't sound like a good idea. Then there was Sokka, who would probably murder him on sight for "sleeping with his baby sister."

Zuko smiled as he snuggled closer to Katara and put out the fire.

Screw them.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**A/N: It's my birthday! Guess how I'm celebrating... Calculus final! Yeah, not fun. Enjoy the new chapter!**

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"What do you mean you don't want to? You have to learn firebending, that's the whole reason I'm here!"

Katara woke to the sound of a very angry Zuko. She wasn't sure what he was yelling about, but he wasn't happy. She got up and stretched before realizing that something was wrong. She didn't remember falling asleep in her tent last night, but that's where she was. Had she dreamt the whole thing? Had Zuko not opened up to her about his horrific past?

Part of her hoped it was a dream, for Zuko's sake, while the other part hoped it was real. She wasn't fond of what Zuko had told her, but the fact that he _had_ told her anything was a big deal.

She shook her head to clear it and walked out to start preparing breakfast. She saw that it was still early, and was confused as to why Zuko was already awake... again. They had stayed up really late, how did he manage to get up so early? Unless they hadn't stayed up late at all.

"Hey Zuko, who were you yelling at?" Zuko turned to her and she saw the anger in his expression ease up ever so slightly.

"I was yelling at Aang." Katara looked around skeptically, finding no trace of the monk. "He went back to sleep. Apparently he doesn't want to learn firebending. He says it's too 'dangerous.'"

Katara laughed at the way Zuko had said dangerous. His voice was incredibly whiny and high-pitched. It was hard to believe such a noise could even come from the prince. "Well, technically, he's right. It is pretty dangerous."

"Well, technically, we're in a freaking war and Aang is sorts the guy who's supposed to win it! You are aware that wars involve danger, right?" Katara rolled her eyes and decided that Zuko was tired and grumpy, so there was no real reason to snap at him... this time.

"Look, I'm well aware of that, but Aang has never been a big fan of violence. Just give him a little time; he'll pull himself together." Katara began stirring the pot of what was soon to be a breakfast soup.

"How much time am I supposed to give him? It's not exactly like we have a lot. We need to get ready, and the Avatar needs to learn firebending!" Katara added the last of the ingredients before standing to face Zuko.

"We all know that we have to hurry, but _Aang_ may have a point. He won't be able to use firebending during the invasion, so maybe he should just improve on his other elements." Zuko tried to cut her off but Katara ignored him. "He is really stressed about this whole thing and yelling at him isn't helping."

"If I don't teach the kid firebending then what am I doing here? I could be a lot more effective somewhere else!" Zuko was growing angrier and angrier by the second.

"First of all you can still do a lot to help us. Training against a firebender will be good practice for all of us. Plus you actually do chores around camp, unlike everyone else." Katara realized a little late that telling Zuko he was basically a training dummy and a maid wasn't a good idea. "Besides, where could you be doing anything more helpful?"

"How about with my uncle? And by the way, I will not resign myself to being a useless waste of room like Sokka." Zuko was now trying to get a rise out of Katara; she deserved it for making him so angry.

Surprisingly, she laughed. Zuko found that his anger was slowly leaving him, something that didn't happen too often. By the time Katara stopped laughing; Zuko was actually smiling a little bit. "Why are we fighting about something this stupid? How about this: we make a bet. If I win, you, Aang, and I will sit down and talk about this. If you win, you can yell and shoot fireballs at him as much as you want."

"And what exactly would the bet be?" Zuko smirked; he had an idea of what was coming.

"Well... we never _did_ get to finish that sparring match... That is, if you're not too hurt." Katara smirked back at Zuko, who she knew would never back down from a challenge.

"Alright, you're on." Zuko walked back to the clearing he had planned to teach Aang in and took his stance. Katara followed suit and smiled at Zuko's choice of sparring area. There was a stream right next to it.

"Wow, you're kind of losing your advantage. Why are we near the water?" Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Well I _was_ gonna teach Aang here. If he accidentally set something on fire, having water nearby would be helpful. Besides, we wouldn't want this to be an unfair fight, now would we?"

Katara covered her arms in water and raised an eyebrow in response. Zuko yawned arrogantly before sparking two fires to life in his palms. Katara immediately shot her first whip at Zuko, who rolled away. He shot a small blast back at Katara and tried to ignore the pain it caused him. He was still weaker than he had thought. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he barely dodged Katara's second whip. His maneuver sent more pain shooting down his back and side, and his eyes widened in shock. If he wanted to win this fight, he was going to need to do it fast.

Zuko kicked a stream of fire at Katara and waited for her to counter. As she shot more water at him, Zuko sent as much fire at the attack as he could. Steam covered the clearing and Zuko moved in fast. He covered the distance between them with lightning fast speed and was on top of Katara in a matter of seconds... literally. He had over-estimated the distance between them, and he crashed into her hard, sending them both to the ground. Katara landed on top and held Zuko's wrists down.

"Well, this seems familiar." Zuko smirked up at Katara from underneath her.

"I agree, have we done this before?" Zuko asked and Katara laughed, exactly as he had hoped. He quickly threw her to the side (as gently as he could) and pinned her to the ground. "I win."

"That's not fair. You cheated." Zuko simply smiled and held her in place.

"Admit it, I win." Katara thought of a way to regain control, but she wasn't sure about the results. She had a plan, but it was... forward. She decided it was better than admitting defeat. She looked into Zuko's eyes and leaned in.

Zuko's eyes widened in shock as Katara's lips made contact with his. They had kissed before, but this was unexpected. He knew she was trying to win the fight, and his hormones were letting her. Before he knew it, he was on his back and Katara was smiling down at him. She looked perfect with her hair falling at the sides of her face and her sparkling blue eyes staring down into his. Zuko could hear his heart pounding in his chest, and he silently apologized to the spirits for all the times he had cursed them.

"So, who wins now?" Zuko smirked up at her, and Katara prepared to have to wrestle him.

"If I say you win, you have to kiss me again, agreed?" Katara smiled and rolled her eyes.

"I guess, if that's what it takes." She pretended to be annoyed by the idea, but she liked kissing him as much as he liked kissing her.

"Alright, then I guess you win." Katara leaned down again as she smiled.

"Hey Katara, what's for breakfast? Smells good, like- what the hell are you doing to my sister?" Zuko took back his apology to the spirits and began cursing them even more. They loved tormenting him in every way possible.

Katara jumped off Zuko as fast as she could, before helping Zuko up. She was also wondering how the two always got caught. "We were sparring, Sokka. That's all, I swear."

"Oh really, cause it sure looked like you were doing a little more than sparring." Katara was about to defend herself when a cranky and tired Toph spoke up.

"Relax Snoozles, she's telling the truth. I am not about to listen to the two of you fighting all day, again." Sokka looked back at her, not believing the blind earthbender either.

"It's not my fault that these two were... engaging in acts of... Inappropriate fondling!" Toph snorted indignantly before smirking at Sokka.

"Oh, speaking of inappropriate fondling, what exactly were you and-" Sokka's eyes widened and he quickly covered Toph's mouth.

"Okay, I believe you. There is no fondling or anything too mature for anyone going on. End of discussion." Toph punched Sokka for touching her mouth but was satisfied nonetheless.

"Good, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed. Don't wake me up again." Toph walked back to a seemingly random spot and sat down. She bent her earth tent back up before going back to sleep within seconds.

Sokka glared at Zuko and the firebender gulped; he had never seen Sokka so angry. It was actually a bit… frightening. Zuko cringed as Sokka opened his mouth, ready o take more verbal abuse. "So Katara, what's for breakfast?" He flashed a large smile and Katara rolled her eyes. She walked over to the pot of soup she had forgotten about and looked inside.

"Looks like we're having some overcooked soup." Sokka's dejected whine was similar to that of a baby tiger-seal, but it was much louder. He was swiftly sent flying through the air by a small pillar of stone.


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey everybody, Happy Holidays and enjoy the new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: You know what would be a Christmas miracle? If I actually owned any of this stuff... But I don't :(**

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As Iroh approached the outskirts of Omashu, he couldn't help but marvel at the ingenuity of Earth Kingdom cities. From the great wall at Ba Sing Se to the mountainous structure of Omashu, their uniqueness and practicality was truly amazing. The buildings of the Earth Kingdom were a far cry from the simple and boring designs of the Fire Nation houses, but the retired general supposed that it was probably easier for earthbenders to build houses than it was for firebenders.

The other thing that really stood out as amazing to Iroh was the lack of Fire Nation security. Whether it was because they had all moved to Ba Sing Se or they were all preparing for the Day of Black Sun, Iroh had literally walked into Omashu without being recognized. The Dragon of the West had shrugged it off as luck and sat down in a tea shop where he waited for night to fall. Bumi was being kept at the top of Omashu, but it wouldn't be terribly hard for Iroh to break him out.

Iroh had already sent letters to multiple members of the Order of the White Lotus, telling them where to meet to prepare for the invasion. As a retired general Iroh knew the importance of taking every advantage you got in war, but he also knew the consequences of going all in on a single battle. He decided that the White Lotus could try to take back Ba Sing Se while the others tried to take the Fire Nation Capital.

As night began to fall the retired general paid for his tea and thanked the shop owner before making his way toward the center of the city. On the way Iroh took note of all possible escape routes and all the guard towers that would be able to spot him if he slipped up. After looking around for a bit he decided that the toughest part of the while mission would be convincing Bumi to leave his city behind him.

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The Gaang sat silently around the campfire, most of then dreading the conversation that was about to take place. They had all talked and decided that Aang would not learn firebending before the invasion, but Zuko could teach him afterward if it failed. Of course, the only person that wasn't in on the plan yet was the banished prince himself. Sokka sat with his arm around Suki; Aang and Toph were at a distance that was too far to be close but not far enough to avoid being awkward. Zuko sat completely across from Aang eyeing him suspiciously, with Katara a couple of feet to his left.

Sokka was the first to break the silence. "So, less than a week until the invasion..."

Suki replied with an awkward "yep" and Zuko's eyebrow rose in increased suspicion. "Everyone is meeting at the invasion site in three days... I'm pretty excited to see everyone."

Toph started to laugh, but tried her best to fight it back. Sokka was probably the worst actor ever. "Yeah, it'll be pretty cool." Aang rubbed the back of his head and glanced at Zuko, who was staring back with a puzzled look on his face. This caused Aang to sit straight up and stare directly ahead, an incredible overcompensation for his obvious mistake.

Zuko decided he was sick of the pathetic charade and that it was time to figure out what was going on. "Alright, are you going to just tell me or continue to act like morons?"

Sokka tried to act offended by making a small sound of disbelief before folding his arms, closing his eyes, and staring pointedly away from Zuko. "I'm offended that you would even imply that we were keeping a plan secret from you Zuko. Really, that just hurts." Toph didn't even try to hide her laughter at that performance and Katara, Aang, and Suki's palms all met their respective foreheads.

"Right... Okay so if Sokka isn't going to tell me what's going on, will one of you whose brain actually works please explain what you're hiding?"

Aang decided to speak up. "We all talked and decided that I was going to fight your father during the eclipse... Without knowing the basics." Zuko's eyes narrowed in anger as he fought to control his temper.

He lost.

"What do you mean you're not learning the basics? I already told you that you are going to learn firebending. It's too risky to face my father without knowing what he does. He's more powerful than Azula, and she almost killed you."

"She could still bend; your father won't be able to."

Katara was quick to agree with Aang. "Exactly. Your father won't be able to do much damage without his bending."

Zuko became angrier at this comment. "He can't do damage without his bending? He hasn't fought a single battle this entire war and look at all the damage he's done! Aang won't be able to take all the guards and finish off my father fast enough, he isn't that good!"

"So what? I can fight your father one on one even if he has his bending. I have three elements on my side and he only has one." Aang was slightly offended by Zuko's assessment of his talents, so he came off as angrier than he really was.

"That's not true though. You're hesitant, nice. You wouldn't be able to kill him in cold blood, but he wouldn't think twice about doing it to you. He is merciless, add that to the fact that you're his biggest threat and you're practically dead already!" Zuko was now standing in Aang's face, who stood up to yell right back in the older boy's face.

"You're wrong. No one is that evil, everyone deserves another chance. The man you're talking about is your father! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"NO! It doesn't!" Zuko was beyond furious, and the others had all moved away from the fire to escape the now enormous flames. "It doesn't mean anything to him, so why the hell should it mean anything to me? He doesn't deserve a second chance! He deserves to die repeatedly! There is no good in that monstrous excuse for a human being, and I couldn't care less if he was my father! He sure as hell didn't care that I was his son, seeing as he banished me and burnt off half my face! And you wanna know why he did that? Because I spoke out of turn. If that's showing mercy than fine, give him as many chances as you want, but if I EVER get the opportunity, I will kill him with no remorse whatsoever!"

Zuko walked past Aang, bumping him hard in the shoulder and brushing off Katara's hand on his shoulder. The fire had burnt through all of its fuel, leaving the remaining Gaang members standing in a dark, stunned silence. Katara was the first to recover from her shock since she had already known the story of Zuko's banishment.

"Someone should go talk to him." She said as she started to follow Zuko's path. Toph stepped in and blocked her path.

"I really doubt he wants to talk to you right now, sweetness. I'll talk to him." Toph turned without waiting for a response and immediately went after Zuko. She sensed him nearby and found him within a minute; he was sitting against a tree with his arms folded and his head on his knees, but he wasn't crying.

"Hey Zuko... You okay?" Toph kept a safe distance to avoid any outburst Zuko might have left.

"I'm fine. I just can't believe how stupid all of you are being." Zuko didn't bother to look up, not the Toph cared whether he met her gaze.

"We aren't being stupid; we're being realistic. There is no way Aang can even get a grasp of the basics by the time the invasion comes. His firebending would be useless at best and a distraction at worst. You would be a lot more useful helping Sokka with the actual invasion plan." Toph moved closer and squatted next to Zuko, who still hadn't looked up.

"Sokka already has the whole thing planned out. How would I be helping?"

"Well assuming Snoozles had any idea what the city was like and the best way to get in you wouldn't be helpful at all. Luckily you're the only one who knows anything about the place we're attacking, so you would be the best at planning it. Seriously Sparky, you worry me sometimes."

Zuko looked up and smiled slightly. "Hey, I would think that in all the time I was gone Sokka could have at least found a map. Sorry for overestimating him."

Toph laughed a bit before punching Zuko in the shoulder. "That's the spirit. Whenever you're feeling down, make fun of Sokka. Now can you go make nice with everyone again? Aang feels bad and all that sappy crap and your girlfriend is worried about you."

Zuko stood up to follow the blind earthbender back to camp. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Right, lie to the girl who can detect lies. Very intelligent hothead." Zuko glared at the back of Toph's head but the girl ignored him. When they arrived back at camp everyone was sitting around waiting for them. Zuko felt uncomfortable as everyone's gaze was promptly on him.

"Ummm... I think I'm gonna got to bed... if you all don't mind." Zuko rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he continued. "Aang, I'm sorry I yelled at you; I was out of line. That said, I meant what I said, but I guess if you think it's best to wait until after the invasion to learn firebending, I'll go along with it. Sokka, tomorrow you and I are going over the invasion plan before you, Suki and I do some combat practice while Aang, Toph, and Katara get some work done on their bending."

The whole group was stunned about two things. They were shocked that Zuko had apologized, but more importantly they were impressed by his innate leadership abilities. Aang stopped him just before he got into his tent. "Zuko, wait... I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so fast to judge your family, and I didn't mean to offend you. I... I didn't know that... Y'know."

Zuko looked at Aang for a few seconds before smiling in response. "Goodnight," he said as he went into his tent, only to pop his head back out moments later. "By the way, where is Ty Lee?"

Everybody looked around the campsite, but the pink clad acrobat was nowhere to be found.


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey everyone! Second post in two days! It's very short because I had very little time to get some editing done. Happy New Year BTW! Here's the new chapter, a little catch up on everyone else but it's not exactly the most progressive chapter. One more chapter until the Invasion though! Hope you enjoy it and Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! If you've written a story you know how much that can mean to someone writing a story, and it really does inspire me to write faster (though it can't fix my typing speed, which is probably at a fourth grade level) :(**

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Zuko woke up early the next morning to begin talking over the invasion plans with Sokka. He was feeling really on edge because of a dream he had the night before, but he couldn't remember what the dream was about. He shrugged the feeling off and approached Sokka's tent. At first he was hesitant to enter because it sounded like someone was being attacked by a platypus-bear, but then he realized it was just Sokka snoring.

After twenty plus minutes of attempting to wake the water tribe warrior Zuko groaned in frustration and decided to get in a little practice. He started going through his basic forms and realized that he was still sore, but now it was only his shoulder that bothered him. He knew that practicing his bending with a hurt shoulder would only make things worse, but Zuko was far too stubborn to listen to logic. He went through all of the basic motions as well as some of the advanced techniques his uncle had taught him before the pain became too much to handle.

He took a seat by the campfire that no longer had any wood and decided that he needed to go get more to make up for burning through all of it. Just as he was about to leave to go collect some firewood Katara crawled out of her tent. "Hey Zuko, where are you going?"

Zuko turned and gave her a small smile before explaining that he was going to restock their firewood supply. "I couldn't wake Sokka so I figured I might as well do something useful while I wait. Is it even possible to get him moving at a decent hour?" Katara giggled a bit as she started preparing some food for the group's breakfast.

"It's actually really easy, you just need to know the right tricks." Zuko skeptically raised his eyebrow so Katara decided to prove her point. "Watch and learn, your highness." Zuko rolled his eyes as Katara moved toward Sokka's tent. She opened the flap and peeked her head inside before speaking in a loud voice: "Sokka, wake up! Breakfast is ready!"

Sokka was out of his tent within seconds, only to find Katara laughing and Zuko trying to ignore the gloating waterbender. "Where's all the food?"

Zuko turned to Sokka and shrugged as Katara explained that she was just trying to wake him up. "We need to go over your invasion plans, Sokka. I want to make sure you're not leading everyone into a death trap, and we have a lot of work to do, so you don't get to sleep in until noon. Deal with it."

Katara laughed at Sokka's groans of discontent and turned back to the food she was preparing.

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Iroh began lowering Bumi and his metal prison down to the ground, trying to make as little noise as physically possible. Taking out the guards around the dethroned monarch took very little effort from the retired general, and he left them no time to alert anyone else. When the cage was finally low enough for Iroh to begin working on the lock, Bumi finally figured out who was lowering him down.

"Grandmaster Iroh, good to see you! You should really look at the view from up there, it's spectacular!" Iroh shushed Bumi as he began to melt the metal lock away from the cage.

"I'm glad you managed to find some positives in your situation, but we need to be quiet. We don't want to alert any of the Fire Nation before we make our escape." Iroh finally busted through the lock and caught the door before it could hit the ground.

"I think it might be a little too late for that, general Iroh." Iroh looked to the shadows as Mai stepped out with her arms folded. "Breaking free such a powerful prisoner from your own nation is quite the traitorous offense, don't you think?"

Bumi stepped out and begin stretching his incredibly stiff joints and muscles. Iroh faced Mai with no shame or remorse whatsoever as he argued back. "Ozai is the real traitor to our nation; he has corrupted it-" Mai raised a hand to cut him off.

"Please, spare me the speech about how you're doing the right thing or whatever. I'm willing to let the two of you go, one two conditions. First, I'm going with you, and I'm helping with the invasion." Iroh's face went from shocked to smiling in his normal all-knowing way. "And second, we meet up with Ty Lee and Zuko before the invasion. Do we have a deal, general?"

Iroh nodded as he continued to smile. "I'm retired, Lady Mai, and you know that. I'm glad you have chosen to side with us, now shall we get out of here before someone notices us? I have plenty of tea stored up outside the city, so we can spend the night there before making our way to the invasion site."

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Hakoda spent the past few weeks gathering support from wherever he could for the invasion. He had managed to gather a sizeable army, with lots of people from the Earth Kingdom ready to fight for their countries and their families. The large ragtag group of rebels was almost to the meeting point for the invasion; they would arrive within the hour. Hakoda smiled thinking of seeing his children again, though he knew that they would not be there until a few days afterward. He was standing on the hull of the captured Fire Navy ship, looking out across the vast expanse of the blue ocean around him and reminiscing of times when his family was safe and happy.

He didn't want his children to be a part of the invasion; he didn't want them to get hurt. Unfortunately he also knew that neither of them would be willing to sit the battle out when their friends were involved. Bato had approached him multiple times trying to figure out what the plan for the invasion itself actually was, but Hakoda had no way of knowing. He had trusted all of the planning to his son and he hoped that Sokka had been able to acquire of the knowledge he needed to formulate a plan. Then there was Katara. She was far too stubborn to not help her friends, and was probably more useful to the invasion than Hakoda himself was. He couldn't help but be incredibly proud of both of his children.

He just prayed that they would all survive the invasion itself.

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Azula had finally reached New Ozai, only to find that the entire city was in a massive disarray. The entire city was freaking out because somebody had busted Bumi out. Azula made her way to Mai's house and walked in. "Where is she?" She yelled at Mai's parents. "Where is the traitor you call a daughter?"

The fear in both of their eyes was obvious, almost as much as the pain. Mai's father was the first to speak up. "She left. We don't know where she went, but we haven't seen her in two days."

Azula took a deep breath to control her temper. "And when exactly was that Earth King taken out of his prison?"

Mai's mother responded quietly and cautiously, as though she expected Azula to burn the city down. "T-two days ago..."

"Dammit Mai!"


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N: AAAAAAAAAHHHHH! 100 Reviews! 103 actually, but still. So sorry I didn't post this right away, but i just got back from my skiing trip late last night. **

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Zuko woke with a start from another bad dream. It was the second time he had woken up that night, and about the fifth in the past week. The weird part was that he couldn't remember any of them, just that all were terrible. He looked outside his tent and saw that it was still dark outside, probably about three in the morning. He groaned as he got up to take a short walk; he figured clearing his head would help him remember the dreams he was having.

As Zuko began walking around, he saw a figure in the distance circling some animals. He approached the figure and saw that it was a person, which promptly put Zuko on alert. He took a bending stance and called out to the figure. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

The person didn't respond, but continued circling his apparent prey. Zuko moved closer and noticed that the person was mumbling under his breath. He also thought that he recognized the stance the person was using, and could have sworn he knew who it was. "Aang, is that you? What are you doing up so late?"

Zuko let his guard down and walked up to Aang, who continued circling a large group of koala-sheep. "Gotta train. Invasion's only two days away, gotta be ready." Zuko raised his eyebrow at the kid, who clearly hadn't slept in quite a while. They were supposed to meet up with everyone for the invasion that day, giving them plenty of time to go over plans and last minute alterations. At this rate, Aang was likely to be unconscious or dead from exhaustion by the time they got there.

"Look, Aang. I'm all for training and getting better and stuff, but you need to get some sleep. You look horrible." Aang stopped for a second to give Zuko a sideways glance before resuming his incessant circling.

"But I have to be ready. I can't forget anything, especially not my pants." Zuko rolled his eyes and grabbed Aang's shoulder to stop him.

"I agree, but- wait, what do you mean your pants?" Zuko shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nevermind. You're right Aang, you do need to be ready, but that includes getting a decent amount of rest. You wouldn't stand a chance against Sokka if you were this tired."

Aang shrugged Zuko's hand off of his shoulder and resumed circling the koala-sheep, many of which were now giving the young Avatar confused or intrigued looks. "Sure, but I need to get better. I gotta be ready."

"You already said that. And would you stop circling the sheep?" Aang stopped and looked at Zuko, who's eyes had finally adjusted to the light, allowing him to see the large bags beneath the bald monk's. "Sometimes a man needs his rest Aang, and that time would be right now."

"Wait... You think I'm a man?" Aang's face suddenly twisted into a deranged smile that actually scared Zuko for a second.

"Uhhh... Sure. Why not?" Aang's smile widened, causing Zuko to shrink back a bit.

"How manly? Like Sokka manly or the Boulder manly?"

Zuko shook his head again, he was pretty fed up with the stupidity of the conversation. "Just GO TO BED!"

Aang's smile immediately left his face and he quickly ran to his tent with a quiet "yes sir" in response. Zuko decided that he wasn't accomplishing anything by staying up this late either, so he went to bed as well.

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_Everything was black. At first he thought he was either dead or blind, but slowly things began to come into focus. He had no idea where he was or where he was running, just that he was going the right way. He turned sharply to his right with Toph, Sokka, and Aang right behind him. After veering left at a small fork and making a hard right turn again, Zuko had to skid to a stop to avoid falling into a pool of magma. He vaguely heard someone asking him what to do next before he quickly bent the molten rock out of the way. Using a technique that looked oddly similar to Katara's waterbending Zuko was able to clear a path large enough for all of them to walk through._

_Upon arriving at the other side Zuko quickly took the lead again and bolted down another passageway. The rock paths seemed man-made, as though they were done with tools instead of bending. A few more turns and Zuko was face to face with a large metal door._

_Suddenly he was in a room he had never seen before, fighting off Azula as best as he could. For some reason he couldn't bend, but neither could she. Dai Li agents were keeping the others occupied as Zuko tried to pin his sister down. He couldn't hear any words but he knew that she was taunting him, and this made him furious. He lunged at her and tried to land a kick to her side. She dodged and sprinted out of the room with two Dai Li in tow._

_Zuko was now seeing Sokka charging Azula with his sword at the ready. Azula was standing still and smirking. Without thinking, Zuko shot a small blast of fire at the girl's left hand and a small dagger came flying out. Sokka pinned her up against the wall and began yelling._

_Aang took in a deep breath before opening two gigantic doors. The boy stepped in and Zuko noticed that the room seemed to be filled with fire. Most of what came next was incredibly blurry, but Zuko was sure he would never forget the last bit. Aang being slowly consumed by flames, reaching and calling out for help, but Zuko found that he could not move._

_The scene changed once again and Zuko recognized it as the palace city. He saw a large army of Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe soldiers marching away from the city and toward a small group of machines that looked oddly like fish. Suddenly eight war balloons rose from behind the palace followed closely by six airships. Zuko watched as Appa took off with Katara on his back, aiming to take out some of the smaller balloons. As she was cutting the top of one in half, a ball of fire crashed onto Appa's side. The beast moaned in pain and fought to stay upright, only to be hit by another large blast. After two more direct hits the beast fell. Katara was hurtling toward the ground and Appa was out cold. Zuko turned and saw the machines blowing up one by one, and turned back just in time to see Katara hitting the ground. The combination of her scream and the resounding THUD made Zuko sick._

Zuko woke with a start once again, but still couldn't remember his dream. It was really beginning to infuriate the frebender, but he hoped that he would no longer have the dreams after the invasion was over. He looked outside and saw that it was now light out, and could smell food cooking outside. He threw on a shirt and stepped out of his tent, where he was momentarily blinded by the bright light.

"Hey Zuko, you're up awfully late. Have a good dream or something?" Zuko looked down and saw Katara working on some breakfast and smiling at him.

"Yeah... Something like that. When are we leaving?" Katara noticed the quick change of subject and the indirect answer, but chose to ignore it.

"We'll leave as soon as everyone wakes up and eats breakfast." Zuko scoffed, causing Katara to turn back towered him. "What's so funny?"

"The invasion is in two days, we don't have time to wait for your brother to wake up." Katara rolled her eyes and went back to preparing everyone's breakfast. "What are you making? It smells kinda funny."

"It's a surprise, and it's a special dish from the Southern Water Tribe, you'll like it. Trust me." Zuko was almost certain he wouldn't like it, but knew better than to insult someone's cooking. Especially when that someone happened to cook every single one of his meals.

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The Gaang approached the invasion site and were amazed at the number of people that were there. There were multiple groups from the Earth Kingdom as well as the Southern Water Tribe's entire force. "Woah! Wait, is that Azula?" Toph asked in a frightened voice as Appa began his descent.

"Where?" Sokka jumped up and stumbled, causing him to fall off of Appa and crash into the sand ten feet below.

"Did he just fall off the bison?" Toph asked Katara, who was trying to make sure her brother was okay so she didn't feel bad about laughing at him.

"Yeah, but I think he's alright."

"He does know I can't actually see up here, right?" Katara rolled her eyes as Aang giggled.

"You would think he would have figured that out by now, but I guess not."

Appa landed and his passengers jumped off and began unloading their things. The new saddle Sokka and Suki had made was small, but it was able to fit all of their belongings. Katara was convinced that it would break eventually, but it had held up surprisingly well so far.

By the time they had finished unloading a very angry and sandy Sokka approached the group. "Seriously Toph, Not. Funny." Suki laughed as she pushed Sokka toward the water.

"Yes it is Sokka. Let's get you cleaned up." Toph laughed while Suki pushed Sokka toward the water as Hakoda approached.

"Dad!" Katara quickly enveloped her father in a tight hug as she fought back her tears of joy. She told her father that Sokka went with Suki to clean off all the sand, and the two left to go find them.

Toph went off to talk with some of her friends from Earth Rumble and Aang was talking to some of the Earthbenders as well as Teo and his father. This left Zuko alone with Appa and Momo, who were currently fighting over some berries that had fallen out of the saddle.

Zuko sighed and walked away from the camp, feeling a bit out of place.

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Sokka was cleaned off and was in the middle of a splash fight with Suki when Katara and Hakoda approached. Suki's eyes widened and she blushed furiously as Sokka stood straight up and saluted him. This caused Hakoda and Katara to break down laughing. "Really Sokka? A salute?" Sokka shrugged his shoulders and gulped nervously.

"H-hey dad. This is my friend, Suki. We were uh... See I was all- and it wasn't... Ummm..."

Suki cut in to end her boyfriends embarassment. "Sokka was covered in sand so we came down here to wash him off. It's uhh... Nice to meet you, sir."

"Nice to meet you too, though Katara tells me that you and Sokka are a little more than just friends..." Suki's blush deepened and there was an awkward silence until Hakoda continued. "Hopefully you can keep him in line." Hakoda smiled in a friendly manner and Suki laughed sheepishly.

"Oh, Dad! We need to go over the invasion plan with you and all the men so everyone knows what to do." Sokka stepped out of the water where Katara dried both him and Suki off.

"Yes, about that. The men and I have had a few conversations about that and we would like to talk to all of you about it as well."

"Sure, we can do that," said Katara. "I'll just go get Aang, Toph, and Zuko and we'll be right there." Katara turned to leave but her father stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, get Aang and Toph, but Zuko's presence won't be... necessary."

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Zuko hardly ever felt lonely, he usually enjoyed the feeling anyway. But for some reason, as he watched everyone talking and smiling and laughing from a distance, he couldn't help but feel the least bit left out. Normally he would convince himself that he didn't care, but at the moment, he did.

The prince laid back and began playing with a small flame in his right palm. He absentmindedly bent it into shapes as he thought about why he was suddenly so attached to people. "Aww, nephew. Don't tell me you're feeling lonely."

Zuko sprang up and turned around to see his uncle standing right in front of him. "Uncle!" He embraced his uncle tightly as he began to smile. "I didn't think you had made it, did you just get here?"

"No. We arrived about a day ago, but we were waiting for you and Ty Lee."

"Who's we?" As Zuko asked the question, Mai stepped into view behind Iroh.

"Hey Zuko." Zuko's good eye widened as Mai hugged him. She didn't know about him and Katara, and Zuko wasn't exactly sure that breaking Mai's heart was a good idea. At least, not while she had her knives with her.

"Mai!" Zuko tried to falsify as much happiness as he could in his voice. "Why are you here and not with Azula?" Mai stepped back and Zuko rubbed the back of his neck as he smiled awkwardly.

"I abandoned the Fire Nation like you and Ty Lee. Where is she by the way?" Zuko swallowed nervously. Had Mai betrayed her Nation just for him?

"We actually don't know where Ty Lee is. We lost her about a week ago."

Iroh stepped back into the conversation as he noticed a pink clad girl heading their way. "Isn't that miss Ty Lee over there?" Zuko turned to where his uncle was pointing and was surprised to see that the old man was right.

"Zuko! And... Mai?" Ty Lee called as she approached the three Fire Nation deserters. "Hey, what're you doing here?"

Mai half smiled at Ty Lee as the acrobat hugged her. "I just though I'd tag along with Iroh until I found you."

Ty Lee stepped back and hugged both Zuko and Iroh in turn. "Where have you been Ty? We were looking for you the other day and we couldn't find you. How did you get here?"

Ty Lee looked at Zuko as though she was surprised to hear that the Gaang had even noticed her absence. "Well, I thought about what you said and decided to help you guys out. I went to the capital city and started sneaking around to figure out how they were preparing for the invasion. No one recognized me, but a lot of guys were giving me funny looks." Mai rolled her eyes as Ty Lee continued. "I found out that they are evacuating the whole city, and that your dad is gonna be in a secret bunker. I couldn't figure out where, but I know it's close to the main city."

Zuko and Iroh shot each other worried glances before Zuko responded. "Well I guess it's good that you went ahead. Now we can easily prepare a small strike team to head in there while the main forces take the city. Uncle, you can lead the army while Mai, Ty Lee, Aang, Toph and I break into the bunker and-" Iroh cut Zuko off before he could finish his plan.

"Unfortunately I can't lead the invasion, nephew." Zuko cut back in before Iroh could continue.

"Uncle, I know you're retired but come on! This is important, and it doesn't really matter whether or not you're official." Iroh chuckled as Mai and Ty Lee watched on.

"That is not the issue Zuko. I am heading back to the Earth Kingdom to meet with the Order of the White Lotus. We are going to try to take advantage of the Fire Nation's lack of reinforcements there to take back Omashu and Ba Sing Se."

"Uncle! No one is going to bet a city on a stupid game of Pai Sho, no matter how much tea you offer them. Seriously, I think you're going crazy, Uncle." This time Iroh let out a full laugh as he rested a hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"Just trust me nephew, but I wish you the best of luck here. Hopefully we can finally put an end to this war." Iroh turned to Mai and Ty Lee as he got up. "You two ladies are welcome to come with me or stay here, whatever you would like to do."

Ty Lee was first to answer. "I think we would be more useful with you, even though making fun of Zuko and his girlfriend seems like fun."

"Girlfriend?" Iroh Mai and Zuko all asked at the same time.

"Yeah, the waterbender girl. What's her name again? Katara? Yeah, that's it!" Zuko blushed deeply confirming Mai's sorrow and Iroh's hopefulness.

"Mai I-" Mai lifted a hand and turned her back to Zuko.

"Save it. I really don't care what you have to say anymore." Mai left without waiting for a response and Ty Lee followed close behind her. Iroh stayed behind for just a second longer.

"I can picture it now nephew. Such cute grand nieces and nephews." Iroh winked and walked away, leaving an embarrassed, bewildered, and blushing Zuko behind.

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The Gaang was grouped around Appa looking depressed as Zuko came sprinting up. "Guys! I have some important information on the invasion!" Zuko stopped when he noticed the looks on his companions faces. "What's going on? Did someone die or something?" Zuko immediately regretted the question and prayed to every god he could think of that he wasn't right.

"No, we have some news. And you're not gonna like it, Sparky." Zuko sat down next to Katara as he waited for someone to continue. When no one did he decided to tell them about his run in with Ty Lee.

"Well okay, but first I need to tell you about the Fire Nation. They built a bunker that all the high tanking officials are going to stay in throughout the invasion. The whole city will be empty while they stall for time." Everyone's eyes widened and they turned toward Sokka.

"How do you know? Who told you that?" Sokka asked.

"Ty Lee. She went ahead and scouted out the city after she left us."

"And how do we know she's not lying? What if Azula put her up to this?" Suki questioned.

"She betrayed Azula, why would she go against us too?"

"Maybe she is trying to make it up to Azula or something. How would she have gotten around the city if she was actually wanted for treason? Treason against _Azula_?" Katara asked this time.

"Look, I know she was telling the truth, okay? I know Ty Lee and I know she was being honest."

Toph decided to add in at this point. "Why don't we just have her tell me. I can tell if she's lying. Problem solved." Everyone was quick to agree except Zuko.

"She sorta... Left. With my uncle and Mai. But I know she was telling the truth, I promise."

"We can't risk it Zuko, I'm sorry." Sokka said.

"What do you mean risk? I trust her judgment and it makes sense."

"And what if she's lying?"

"What if she's not?"

"Zuko, I don't trust her."

"Well Sokka, I do."

"It doesn't matter; your opinion isn't valid in this case."

"Hey, don't go there! I've already proven myself loyal to you, so back off!" Zuko and Sokka got face to face and were yelling loud enough to attract the attention of pretty much everyone else in the invasion.

"It doesn't matter. You're not even a part of this."

"Of course I'm a part of this! I helped you plan thus invasion, and I'll probably be doing a lot more damage than you even without my bending!"

Sokka backed up and looked down as he took a moment to respond. He replied in a calm and collected voice. "No, you won't. Everyone talked and decided... It's too risky to have you with us during the invasion. I'm sorry Zuko."

Zuko stood shocked for a moment in disbelief. "What do you mean? I already fought side to side with the entire Southern Fleet against the Fire Nation. I saved some of their lives! How can they not trust me?"

Katara stepped in to try to keep Zuko calm. "They're saying it's different because this time we're fighting your father."

"So now you don't trust me either? How can you even think I would betray you, Katara?" Zuko fought hard to keep his emotions in tact as Katara did the same.

"I do trust you. I tried everything to convince them to let you fight, but they wouldn't listen. I'm so sorry Zuko, I'm sorry." A tear rolled down Katara's cheek as she tried to hug Zuko, but he pushed her away. Zuko looked around at the sad faces of his friends and the hard, accusatory ones of the soldiers around him.

"Fine. I'll leave. Good luck. I hope it goes well without me." Zuko turned and left the site without waiting for a response or looking back.


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: Here is the long overdue chapter 20, part 1 of the invasion! Enjoy!**

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Zuko angrily paced back and forth as he watched the invasion force prepare to leave. How could everyone betray him like that? What made the warriors think he wasn't trustworthy now? Hadn't he done enough to prove his loyalty already, and how could they possibly turn down the help of a firebender in such a critical situation? Zuko couldn't even begin to think of a legitimate answer to any of these questions, because he knew that they were wrong.

Zuko groaned to himself as he tried to accept the fact that he would not play a role in the invasion at all. He sat down and watched the troops leave before lying flat on his back. He closed his eyes and a vision of a falling streak of blue flashed through his mind.

The prince shot upright and immediately began thinking of other ways to get into the capital. Katara was in danger, and Zuko would be damned before he let anything or anyone stop him from saving her.

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The invasion force had made it to the shore and were beginning to make their way to the capital. Aang took off toward the main city on his glider as Sokka and Hakoda began directing the other troops. Toph was providing the defense for the main assault group, while a smaller force broke off to the left to try and scout ahead. Sokka had been worried that the Fire Nation had set a trap, so he wanted a few people to sneak ahead and find out. Bato led the small group of ten soldiers behind the Fire Nations defenses and began to work toward the Capital. They were not under any fire, so they were able to walk straight in.

They saw the invasion force slowly working closer and closer to Sozin, but they also saw that the Fire Nation had indeed set up a barricade. There was a large wall that had four guard towers along the top, as well as multiple tanks stationed on the ground below it. Bato also noticed a group of archers along the top of the wall and what looked like a group of firebenders hiding on the opposite side of the wall.

He realized a bit too late that his group was standing easily within vision of one of the guard towers, and that they had no defense if they were attacked from a distance. "Fall back to the main force, we need to get out of here now!" he yelled at the other men. Just as Bato started to turn he saw a huge fireball headed straight for them. A thousand thoughts flew through his head, most of which involved missing his home and family. The incoming ball of flames was more than large enough to take out their entire group, which would not only kill them all, but also keep them from warning Hakoda and the others.

Just as Bato resigned himself to burning to death, a massive wall of fire encircled the entire group and blocked the projectile from hitting them. Standing in front of him was Zuko, already out of his bending stance and glaring angrily at the warriors. Bato awkwardly rubbed his bad arm and decided to forego the apology he obviously owed the young prince. "Uhh, thanks."

Zuko nodded slightly in acknowledgement, but kept up his incredibly angry glare. "We need to get down to help the others; they're gonna be under some heavy fire really soon."

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Katara helped her father walk behind the other troops as Toph held off projectiles and flames from every direction. Sokka was up front yelling commands to the warriors, who were completely ignoring him as defending themselves took their full concentration. They had walked directly into a massive death zone, with fireballs and arrows coming at them like crazy. The few earthbenders that were present were all busy keeping everyone safe, so there was no one left to attack back. "Toph!" Sokka called over his shoulder, "what are the chances that you could take out that wall?"

"I'm a little busy at the moment, Sokka! There is a lot of stuff coming at us in case you haven't noticed, and I can't even see the arrows! Have someone else do it!" Sokka tried asking all of the other earthbenders, but none of them had the power to blast through the wall even if they hadn't been focused on staying alive.

Things were looking bleak when a huge explosion hit the bottom of the wall, knocking off the archers and sending huge rocks toppling down on the tanks. Toph took advantage of the distraction and took out the remaining Fire Nation soldiers as Zuko approached Sokka. "Where's Aang, Sokka?"

Zuko looked incredibly angry, and hadn't even bothered trying to find Katara. Toph responded before Sokka had the chance. "Twinkletoes is in the capital fighting your dad. Nice move by the way, Sparky. You might even be as good as me one day." Zuko ignored the nickname as well as the usual arrogance from Toph as he began talking with Sokka about taking the capital.

"Is that- is that Aang?" Zuko and Sokka both looked in the direction Katara was pointing as Aang flew to them with his glider.

"Please tell me you're here because the Firelord was so bad you didn't even need the eclipse to beat him." Aang looked down in response and Sokka groaned as Suki, Katara and Hakoda approached them.

"The Fire Nation is retreating," Hakoda said. "We should be able to surround the capital before the eclipse is over." Katara noticed that both Aang and Zuko had joined them, but based on their expressions, neither one was very happy.

"What's going on, Aang?" The Avatar sighed and looked apologetically at Zuko.

"He's gone. The whole city is abandoned. We've failed." Everyone's expression fell except for Zuko's, who set his face in a look of pure determination.

"No we haven't. I think I can take you to the bunker, if Toph can guide us through it. The three of us can find my father and take him down. We can still win today." Aang nodded and Toph cracked her knuckles in preparation.

"Sokka," Hakoda started, "You should go with them. Katara, Suki, and I can take over the rest of the invasion; you can help Aang." Sokka was hesitant to leave his father, sister, and girlfriend behind, but he knew there wasn't enough time to argue.

Sokka, Zuko, Toph, and Aang all loaded up on Appa and took off toward the capital.

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Zuko led the group to the spot Ty Lee had told him about. "Anything down there Toph?" Toph leaned down and put her hand on the ground, trying to get a clear look at whatever was down there.

"Yeah, there is a large set of elaborate tunnels... And something big and made of metal." The blind girl took a step back before bending a tunnel straight into the main paths. "Let's go."

The group swiftly went into the tunnel with Zuko in the lead. He turned right and ran as fast as he could down the passageway. His legs seemed to have a mind of their own, as they kept taking turns without him thinking about them. He turned sharply to his right with Toph, Sokka, and Aang right behind him. They came to a small fork and Zuko automatically veered to his left.

"How do you know where you're going, Zuko?" Zuko continued running as he made a hard right turn.

"I don't know, I just do." His eyes widened as something clicked in his mind, screaming at him to stop running. "STOP!" He yelled at the others as all four skidded to an abrupt halt. Zuko was standing mere inches away from a pool of boiling magma, and the other three looked at it with despair.

"How do we get across that?" Sokka asked.

"I don't know, maybe I could fly us across?" Aang responded.

Zuko smirked and began doing an intricate waterbending form he had seen Katara using as Aang and Sokka continued to bounce ideas off of each other. "Uh, Sparky?" Toph poked Zuko in the back of his shoulder, but he ignored the girl. "What are you doing?"

As she finished her question the magma began to flow to Zuko's command, and he pushed it against the walls of the cave. "Let's go." he said, still smirking. All four jumped down and walked behind Zuko as he kept the lava at bay.

"How did you know that would work? Have you bent lava before?" Zuko shrugged as he continued walking.

"I guess I have kinda done it before... It's a long story."

The group finally made it across and took of running again. After a few more minutes of turning through various paths, they finally came across a large metal door. "Toph," Sokka said, "can you do anything about this door?" Toph nodded in response and Sokka looked toward Aang. "Are you ready?"

Aang set his face in a look of determination and confidence.

"I'm ready."

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**A/N: ****Thank you to everyone who reviewed... Or favorited... Or alerted... Or read... Yeah.**


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N: The Invasion part 2! It's pretty short, but oh well. Hope you like it!**

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"I'm ready."

Aang blew down the doors and jumped into the room with his staff at the ready. His jaw dropped along with Zuko, Toph, and Sokka's when they saw Azula sitting on a throne like chair. Zuko attempted to shoot a blast of fire at her, but nothing happened.

"Hello Zuzu. You can't honestly be surprised to see me. And in case you haven't noticed, the eclipse has already started. It's alright though, your form was completely off." Zuko glared at his sister who smirked back at him.

"Where's the Firelord?" Aang stepped up, trying not to waste any time with Azula.

"And stick to the truth; I'll be able to tell if you're lying." Toph took a fighting stance next to Aang and Sokka grabbed his boomerang in preparation.

"Really? I'm a very good liar." Azula said, keeping her voice devoid of any emotion. "I am a thousand foot tall purple platypus bear with silver wings."

Zuko looked at her like she was insane, as he prepared to fight hand-to-hand if necessary. "Okay, I admit it, you're good." Toph said as she encased Azula in rock. "But you might want to stick to the truth anyway."

Azula simply smirked back as the rock around her started to break. "When I left Ba Sing Se, I brought a few souvenirs with me... Dai Li Agents!" As she finished speaking two Dai Li dropped from the ceiling above, and the fighting began.

Azula began ducking and dodging with Toph, Sokka, and Aang in pursuit. The two Dai Li agents threw rocks sporadically and shot columns out of the walls as occasional distractions, but Zuko immediately knew something was wrong. Azula had never been one to run away from a fight, and she certainly wouldn't be smirking while she did. That meant one of two things: She was either completely and utterly insane, or she was winning somehow.

As easy as Zuko found it to believe the first option, he figured that assuming the second was a safer plan. "Wait a minute, guys!" Zuko yelled, causing everyone to stop and look in his direction. "Azula isn't trying to win the fight; she's trying to stall until the eclipse is over."

"Not true," Azula cut in. "I'm giving it my all." she said, unable to contain her sarcasm.

"So what do we do, just ignore her?" Aang asked.

Zuko took a moment to think, racking his brain to try to remember more of his dream. "No, Sokka, Toph, and I will deal with her; you move on and find the Firelord." Aang nodded before taking off down the hall in search of Ozai.

"After the Avatar! Hold him off as long as you can!" Azula ordered the Dai Li as she took off after Aang. Toph took out one of the Dai Li with a pillar jutting up from the ground and pinning him to the ceiling. Sokka threw his boomerang at the head of the other agent, causing him to duck and roll. Zuko tackled him and pinned him to the ground before the Dai Li was able to get up, and Toph quickly contained him as well.

The three then sprinted after Azula, who had gotten a big head start on them. "There is no way we're going to catch her!" Sokka yelled to Zuko, who was running right behind him. "Hey, where's Toph?"

Zuko looked back and didn't see the earthbender either, but before he could answer Sokka the girl burst out from a wall in front of Azula, stopping the princess in her tracks. Zuko and Sokka came up from behind her, leaving her no chance for escape. "It's over Azula, you lose!" Zuko said.

Azula laughed slightly. "Please, Zuzu, I never lose."

"Oh really? In case you haven't noticed you're surrounded, and there is no way you could beat all three of us without your bending." Toph replied, still in a bending stance.

"And in case _you_ haven't noticed, peasant, your entire army is about to be overrun by a fleet of airships, and the Avatar is about to go head to head with the Firelord. I think that means you lose."

"...She's right." Zuko said, causing Sokka and Toph to stare at him. "There's no way Aang can defeat my father alone. Especially not if he doesn't find him in time. I'll go try to help; you guys stay here with Azula." Zuko started off past his sister, but she stopped him.

"Fighting Father again, Zuzu? Too bad I can't be there to watch. I wonder what mother would think of you becoming a traitor to your own Nation, I doubt she would be too proud of you." Zuko looked down as the painful memories of his past flashed through his head. "Of course, you could always just find her and ask her yourself."

Zuko's eyes widened and he turned around. "She's alive?" he asked, his voice full of hope.

Azula laughed dryly. "Of course you wouldn't have figured that out yet, I forget how stupid you are sometimes." Azula was smiling evilly as time kept passing by.

"Where is she, Azula? Tell me where she is!" Zuko yelled, infuriated by his sister's attitude.

"Now why would I tell you that? This is so much more fun."

"Zuko, she's just baiting you. Help Aang and figure it out later!" Sokka said. Zuko looked at him and allowed a single tear to escape his eye before turning to leave again.

"Really Zuko? You're going to leave me with these two? All I have to do is jump and the blind girl won't have a clue as to where I am, and him." Azula motioned toward Sokka. "He was left behind by a group of warriors that hasn't done anything this entire war. His whole village is pathetic and weak, and he epitomizes their idiocy."

Sokka yelled in anger and frustration and charged at Azula, who drew a blade in preparation. Just as she was about to slash Sokka with it, a small flame knocked the blade out of her hand, and Sokka pinned her against the wall. "Why the hell are you still smiling? I could kill you right here and now for insulting my people like that!" Azula smirked, causing Sokka to get even angrier. "What?"

"Firebending's back on." Sokka's eyes widened as Azula sent a fiery kick toward his face. He was knocked out of the way by a large rock, which caused Azula's flame to hit the wall behind him in a small explosion. "Good luck now, I have better things to do than deal with you three." Azula took off past Sokka, who was still lying on the ground.

"You guys go warn the others to get back to the ships; we need to get out of here! I'll go get Aang." Zuko said before sprinting off in the opposite direction. Toph helped Sokka to his feet and they headed back toward the surface.

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After Aang had broken off from the others, he had charged through the tunnels searching for the Firelord. After five minutes of breaking down doors that led to empty rooms, Aang finally came across the right one. Unfortunately, Ozai was seated behind fifteen guards wielding spears and swords. The Firelord merely watched as Aang slowly but steadily managed to defeat the guards one by one.

Aang stood breathing heavily as he finally managed to disable the final guard. Ozai stood and applauded slowly and sarcastically. "I must admit, I'm impressed. You're much better than I had suspected."

Aang glared as Ozai smiled coldly, waiting for the airbender to make his move. "It's over Ozai. You can't bend and your city is surrounded. If you hive up now we don't even have to fight."

Ozai laughed slowly in response. "I'm sure you would love to avoid a fight, wouldn't you? One of the biggest problems with your people was their incredible weakness. No matter how powerful they were, they were too weak to make use of it."

"No! They were strong enough not to! Power isn't something you should use to control people, but to help them! Especially when your supposed to be their leader!"

"Ha! I bet that's exactly what your people were thinking as we burned their civilization to the ground! You just can't accept the fact that they were weak." Ozai smiled cruelly at Aang, who tried to control the rage and sadness he was feeling.

"SHUT UP! You're the one who's weak! You don't even have your bending anymore!" Just as Aang finished, they heard a loud explosion from outside the room.

"Looks like I do, actually." Aang's eyes widened as a large wave of fire was sent at him, and he blocked it with a swift gust of air. Ozai followed up with small but fast bursts of flame, that were slowly overwhelming Aang. With a quick burst of air to help dodge, Aang fired rock punches similar to the Dai Li's in response. Ozai was caught off guard and took one of them to the shoulder, drawing blood and causing him to wince in pain.

"Enough of this! It's time to get rid of you once and for all!" Ozai began charging lighting at his fingertips, and Aang started to move to his side. Unfortunately for Aang, one of the soldiers had managed to get up and threw his spear at Aang's legs. The Avatar tripped and was unable to stop himself from colliding hard with the ground. He turned back to see Ozai strike, and covered his face to brace for the impact.

It never came.

Aang re-opened his eyes to see Zuko in front of him, glowing with electricity. At first Aang thought that Zuko had been struck, but the firebender stepped forward and released the bolt of lightning back at Ozai. It crashed in front of the Firelord, causing a large explosion that sent Ozai flying into the wall. The Avatar was up in an instant, heading straight for the door. "Zuko! Let's get out of here, now!" He looked back to see Zuko standing completely still, a look of shock plastered on his face. "Zuko!" Aang yelled again.

Zuko shook his head and swiftly began running alongside the young airbender. The two of them weaved through the tunnels, taking out guards on their way to the surface. Once they cleared the bunker, Sokka, Toph and Katara were waiting for them with Appa. "There you two are. Glad you made it, now let's get out of here!" Sokka said before climbing on Appa's back."

"We already told the others to get back to the ships, and we can catch up to them pretty fast on Appa." Katara added.

The Gaang began flying back toward the invasion force when Sokka noticed that Zuko was acting funny. He turned toward Aang, "What's wrong with him?"

Aang shrugged a little bit and looked at Zuko. "He redirected a bolt of lightning back at his father when he was saving me. I guess he's a little shocked." Sokka started laughing and Aang gave him a confused look.

"Lightning. Shocked. I see what you did there. Good one."

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Appa descended toward the invasion force as they continued making their way back toward the ships. They were still a ways away, and Katara had begun to worry that they wouldn't make it back in time. They landed next to Hakoda, who was being helped along by Bato and Suki. "Is there any way we can get everyone to go faster? We need to leave as soon as possible." Said Sokka.

Bato looked behind them and rolled his eyes. "Why would we need to move faster? They aren't coming after us, and even if they were, we've held them off already today. I think we can manage." Before anyone had the chance to respond, eight war balloons rose up from behind the capital, followed closely by six massive airships. Everyone's eyes widened and the invasion force sped up swiftly. "Oh."

Katara sprinted toward Appa and climbed back into the saddle. "What are you doing?" Aang asked her as she took hold of the reigns.

"I'm gonna try to give us a little extra time," she replied. As Zuko saw her grab the reigns, an image of a plummeting blue dot in the distance flashed through his mind, and his eyes widened in fear.

"WAIT!" he yelled as Appa started to take off. Katara couldn't hear him, so she continued to steer Appa upward. Zuko sprinted forward and jumped as high as he could, but barely managed to grasp onto Appa's tail. The sudden extra weight caused Appa to flip his tail, sending Zuko flying into the air. He came crashing down on his left arm on one of the armored parts of Appa's new saddle, and he could feel his own arm breaking upon impact. He grunted in pain, but managed to right himself using his good arm. Katara looked back in surprise, immediately noticing the pained look on Zuko's face.

"Zuko! What are you doing? What happened? Are you okay?" Katara asked frantically. Zuko was grimacing in pain, but managed to stay focused.

"I'm fine. We need to land, now." He said, holding his newly broken arm.

"What? Why?" Katara moved over and began feeling his arm even though she could already tell it was broken. Zuko swatted her hands away and stared at her pleadingly.

"It's a long story, just trust me. We need to land now." Katara was scared by the look in Zuko's eyes, mostly because she had never seen him so afraid of anything. What bugged her the most was the fact that she had no idea what he was scared of.

"But-" As Katara began speaking, a large blast of fire hit Appa in the side, and the beast groaned in pain. Katara moved back to the reigns and guided him back away from the airships toward the retreating army. "Zuko, there is no way they're gonna make it back to the ships before those balloons do. We're not gonna be able to get away."

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Zuko stared from his spot on the left side of Appa, crammed in between Sokka and Toph. He barely noticed their fighting as the group solemnly made their way toward the Western Air temple. Aang had been silent the entire time as had Katara. The Duke, Teo, and Haru seemed awkward as they were feeling a bit out of place, and Toph and Sokka were arguing about why the invasion had failed. Zuko was starting to get a headache from Sokka and Toph's bickering as well as all of the things he was thinking about. _What do we do now? How am I gonna teach Aang firebending before Sozin's comet comes? Is my mother really still out there?_

He decided that it would be best to try to get some sleep before Appa got tired and they all had to walk, so he began swiftly dozing off. The last thing to cross his mind before he finally fell asleep was an all too common phrase for the prince: _Azula always lies._


	23. Chapter 22

**A/N: Good news! I found out about fifteen minutes after I posted the last chapter that Korra has already been extended to 26 episodes. I'm pumped for it to come out, but I think they pushed the release date back :'(.**

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Zuko leaned against one of the pillars at the Western Air Temple as he listened to the rest of the group talking around the fire. His left arm was in a makeshift sling, but he preferred to support it with his other arm, since it was still causing him a great deal of pain. No one was in a very good mood, and Zuko didn't feel like being around people at the time.

"We lost. All that work, all that preparation; it was all for nothing. I failed." Aang said solemnly as he sat with his knees to his chest. He stared intently into the campfire, not wanting to face his friends.

"That's not true Aang." Katara said hopefully. "We were closer than we have ever been to winning the war. We almost got there, and it's definitely not your fault. We got unlucky."

"Seriously Aang," Sokka added, "We actually made some good progress. It wasn't a total loss."

"I agree Twinkles; you need to stay a little more positive. Don't blame yourself, it wasn't anyone's fault."

With Toph's last comment Zuko had had enough. He unfolded his arms and walked toward the group. "What are you all talking about? Aang's right. We lost. We had our shot and we missed it, and now we have a ton of work to do before Sozin's comet gets back. You can't possibly see a bright side to what happened today, can you?"

Katara got up and glared angrily at Zuko, as if trying to will him into shutting up. "It won't help anyone to be negative, we just need to move on and get ready."

"No. You can't keep ignoring all the bad things that happened. We need to learn from our mistakes and work as hard as we possibly can to end this war as soon as possible." Sokka stood up next to his sister and joined the argument.

"We have quite a bit of time. I say we take a little while to regroup and figure out a plan for the future. We're not in a huge hurry." The campfire began to rise with Zuko's temper, and the Duke, Teo, and Haru all swiftly scurried off to their rooms before things got out of control.

"We don't have a lot of time, Sokka. It's time for all of you to wake up! This is a war; people are dying every day, and like it or not, we're the ones who are going to have to put an end to this. I'm going to have to teach Aang firebending in a little more than a month with only one arm, and he has to be ready to take on the Firelord by the time the comet arrives. He has to be ready to take him out."

"I'm not taking anyone's life, Zuko. No exceptions." Aang said forcefully, looking fearlessly at Zuko, who was sporting the most malevolent glare he could muster.

"You don't have a choice; you're the Avatar." Zuko responded just as pointedly.

"There is always another choice."

"Yeah. It's kill my father, or let the whole world burn. He's never going to quit. As long as he's alive, he'll keep fighting." Zuko was too irritated to wait for a response, so he walked away from the group without another word.

"What's up with him?" Suki asked. Sokka shrugged in response before sitting back down next to his girlfriend. Aang excused himself to go to bed and Katara headed off after Zuko. Toph sat down by the fire opposite Sokka and Suki. A few moments later, she felt the two making out with each other across the flames.

"Are you serious? Just because I can't see doesn't mean I don't know what you're doing!"

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"What was that about Zuko? You were completely out of line!" Katara yelled as she approached Zuko. He was sitting on the floor looking out at the canyon the Western Air Temple was situated on.

"I was not out of line, and it was about exactly what I said. We can't keep pretending this war is gonna win itself." Zuko sounded oddly calm given the situation, and Katara could tell something was bothering him.

"You've known that for a long time. Why is it suddenly so important to scream in our faces?" Zuko finally turned to face Katara, and she noticed some sort of emotion showing in Zuko's eyes. She couldn't discern what it was because she had never seen it before. Her best guess would have been regret, but it seemed like something else was there too.

"It's always been important. I hoped that Aang would step up and be the leader he needs to, but that's obviously not going to happen." Katara rolled her eyes.

"You and Sokka are obsessed with this whole leader thing. Why does there have to be a leader all the time?" Katara sat down next to Zuko, her anger having almost died down completely.

"If everyone did what they were supposed to we wouldn't need a leader. Clearly that isn't going to happen though. Sokka would never get out of bed unless it was to eat, and Aang would spend all day playing around with his airbending."

"He's just a kid, Zuko. Shouldn't he be allowed to have fun?" Zuko's temper flared and his voice almost rose to a full yell.

"You can't keep treating him like a kid though! He needs to be more disciplined. As a group we need to be more disciplined, and we need to work better as a team."

Katara was slightly angered by Zuko's half outburst, but she thought she had identified the real problem. "Is that what this is about? The 'team' not letting you help with the invasion? I told you Zuko; we all wanted you there with us, but the others didn't trust you to fight against your father. Is that what you're so mad about?"

Zuko sighed heavily and turned away again. "I'm angrier about the fact that they were right."

"What are you talking about? You saved Aang's life from your father. I wouldn't say you took his side..."

"I didn't _fight_ him either. I had my chance, Katara. I could have aimed that lightning bolt right back at him and ended it all then and there. For some reason, right at the last second, I couldn't do it."

There was a drawn out moment of silence as Katara processed what she was hearing. "Aang would probably say you did the right thing…" she finally responded in a voice that was much more compassionate and understanding than angry.

"He would also argue that wars can be won with smiles and friendship…" Zuko responded just as softly. Katara giggled and scooted closer to Zuko, both of them thinking to themselves. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Katara leaned on Zuko's shoulder. He was a bit surprised but simply put his arm around her shoulder without saying anything. After a few more minutes Zuko finally decided to break the silence. "I'm stressing out about this too much, aren't I?"

Katara smiled and looked up to him. "Maybe a little."

Zuko chuckled softly. "Yah… I'll sleep on it tonight, and try to be calmer in the morning." Zuko stood up and reached down to help Katara up.

Katara smiled and grabbed his hand. "Sounds like a good-" Katara was cut off midsentence by a pair of lips crashing into her own. Her eyes widened in momentary surprise before she melted into the kiss.

Zuko pulled away much sooner than Katara wanted, and stood smiling at her. "Good night Katara." He said before starting off to his room.

"Goodnight…"

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**A/N: This is kind of a filler chapter in between the invasion and Aang's firebending practice, which is why it was so short. It had been a while since this story had any fluff sooo yeah. Hope you liked it! Review!**


	24. Chapter 23

**A/N: Hmm... I guess I decided to get back into this after leaving without telling anyone anything... I actually feel really bad about leaving you all hanging; I just sorta got caught up with life and put this on the backburner. I'm probably gonna stick to this story and Meant to Live only and finish them up. I don't know that I'll continue the others, unless people really want me to. I don't know, maybe I won't. We'll see. So much for my poll right? Hehe... Yah. Here's a bunny!****  
****( ) ( )****  
****(='.'=)****  
****( v v )****  
****It's cute! Don't hate me O.o******

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"I don't know guys... I've never been a fan of us splitting up. I think we should stick together." Aang said to his friends, who were currently grouped around him, bags already packed.

"We don't have a choice Aang, and we all know it." Sokka stated reluctantly. He wasn't a fan of splitting up either, especially considering the groups they would be heading off in.

Aang and Toph were going to the Eastern Air Temple to try to find Guru Pathik and actually master the Avatar state. Zuko and Katara were heading to Ba Sing Se to catch up with Iroh and start looking for Zuko's mother. Katara was going to heal Zuko's arm, though Sokka was not convinced it was her only reason. He was left with Suki to babysit Haru, Teo, and The Duke. They claimed to be planning to break the prisoners from the invasion free, but Sokka knew they would simply bide time until the comet came.

"Seriously Twinkletoes, we're kind of out of options..." Toph said, doing a good job masking her anxiousness. "We're leaving in two hours, whether you like it or not, so get going." Aang swallowed the last of his arguments and solemnly walked to pack his things. Katara began preparing the final meal they would eat at the Western Air Temple, Toph took off to find Zuko, and Suki and Sokka were left making kissy-faces to each other.

As Toph approached the firebender's room, she could feel him struggling to pull his arm through his shirt sleeve. She could also feel him growing more and more frustrated by his lack of ability to finish said task. She decided at the last second that her question could wait, and turned to walk away. Just as she did so, Zuko walked out of his room and spotted her. "Hey Toph," he started, "did you need something?"

Toph turned, startled once again by the firebender's light footwork. "Umm, no. Not really…"

"So you just walked over to my room and watched me put on my shirt for the fun of it then?" Zuko smirked as the Earthbender let her shoulders sink.

"To be fair, I can't actually _watch_ you do anything…" Zuko rolled his eyes and continued to stare at Toph, waiting for her to continue. "Fine… I-umm…" she sighed heavily and gave up on masking her meaning. "I don't know how to approach Aang about our… relationship." She said quickly, as though Zuko wouldn't understand it.

"I wasn't aware that you two were in a relationship," Zuko said, a bit confused as to what the girl meant.

"Yah… we aren't, and that's kinda the problem." Toph said, facing away from Zuko to hide her blush while nervously playing with her fingers. Zuko laughed, adding to Toph's embarrassment and causing her to get angry. She turned to start yelling at Zuko but he cut her off.

"It's funny because I never expected you to actually admit it." Zuko said, still laughing. Toph stomped on his feet hard, sending the still laughing firebender onto his back.

"You mean you knew?" Zuko just nodded as he tried to rub the pain out of his feet, still fighting back laughter. "And you made me actually say it out loud?" Another nod from Zuko made Toph feel furious, but rather than maiming the firebender, she began to laugh as well. This made Zuko began to laugh again, and the two ended up in a hysterical laughter over effectively nothing. Zuko recalled having similar moments with Azula before she had gone insane, and wondered when he had become so close to Toph. "You're not too bad, Sparky." Toph said, as the two finally recovered from their hysterics.

"You're not as annoying as I thought either, Shorty."

"Shorty?" Toph started to laugh at the sad attempt at a nickname, but stopped before she went crazy again. Zuko noticed her attitude shifting back to serious, and decided to think of the best way to solve Toph's problem.

"If you really want to start something with Aang, just tell him how you feel. If he doesn't feel the same way… well you have a lot of time to convince him otherwise before the comet." Zuko chuckled a bit more as Toph thought about it.

"That's probably the least creative thing I've ever heard. Just tell him how I feel? That seems so…"

"Mature?" Zuko offered.

"Stupid and lame, actually." Toph said, laughing at the frustrated look on Zuko's face. "I'll give it a try Sparky… thanks." Toph said before heading back out to the clearing to see what Katara had cooked. Zuko smiled and rolled his eyes before following the young earthbender.

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Zuko, Katara, Toph and Aang sat on Appa's back as they moved closer to Ba Sing Se. they planned to travel the rest of the day together on Appa before Zuko and Katara went the rest of the way on foot and Aang and Toph took off for the Eastern Air Temple. They had been travelling for about five hours since leaving Sokka, Suki, and the others back at the Western Air Temple. "So Aang," Zuko started, "You're sure that you are ready to master the Avatar State? If this doesn't work you will have almost no firebending experience and that will be a huge problem once Sozin's Comet gets here."

Aang gave a small glance toward Katara, but he had already made up his mind. "I'm sure. No more distractions; it's time to get serious. At this point mastering the Avatar State is the best way for me to win this war. I won't have time to master fire before the comet comes either way. This has to work." Zuko nodded toward Aang, impressed by his maturity. He wasn't aware that the "distraction" Aang was referring to was his girlfriend, but he still respected the young Avatar's determination.

"You guys will come to Ba Sing Se as soon as you are done so you can start practicing, right?" Katara asked. "Then we can go back to Sokka and Suki to prepare for the comet."

"Actually," Zuko cut in "it's probably best if you guys just meet up with us wherever you drop us off. It has only been a few days since the eclipse, I doubt my uncle and his tea group has taken Ba Sing Se back from the Fire Nation yet. If it's still controlled by the Fire Nation we don't want you going anywhere near it."

"Well yeah, but it's going to take us at least a day to get to Ba Sing Se, and a day to get back. Do you really think we can find your mom in just three days Zuko?" Katara countered. He sighed heavily and looked off to the side of Appa, just in time to see the outer wall of Ba Sing Se slowly materializing on the horizon.

"Unfortunately that's not the most important thing right now." Katara looked sad for Zuko, knowing how badly she would want to search for her mother if she could. He gave her a small smile for reassurance before adding "I'll have plenty of time to search for her once the war is over anyways."

Everyone knew that wasn't true. Zuko would be constantly busy with the duties of rebuilding a war torn world and trying to fix all of the problems within the Fire Nation, assuming he survived at all. Appa began to lower into a clearing as the group decided on a place to set up camp. "Alright, so we meet back here in five days, agreed?" Aang asked, hoping it would be enough time to master the Avatar State.

Zuko nodded in response as Toph finally entered the conversation. "And please Zuko, don't bring your crazy sister this time. One person from your family is more than enough." Everyone laughed and Zuko pulled the unsuspecting earthbender in for a hug.

"Please Toph, you know you love me." This earned a playful scoff from the blind girl, who struggled to push Zuko away. "You and Azula would make great friends."

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Sokka had to wonder what he had ever done to deserve the hell he was going through. Teo had caused a small explosion through one of his poorly designed experiments with blasting jelly, which had caused the Duke to fall back on his head, pushing his oversized helmet down over his face. The blast had also freaked out Haru, who proceeded to accidently shoot one of the rocks he had been bending at Teo's chair, destroying the brake system. Of course at the time, Teo had been on a hill, and Suki was below him. So now Sokka was stuck with a girlfriend who was slightly hurt and very angry, A small boy who was convinced he had gone blind and refused to sit still long enough for Sokka to dislodge his head, and a boy in a fast moving chair that had no brakes and was heading all the way back down the hill they had just spent two hours climbing.

He thought about what his grandmother would say in a situation like this. He figured she would probably laugh and say that it was just a fantastic form of birth control. He realized that if this was how kids were, he would have no part of them… ever. He helped Suki get her legs bandaged and managed to get The Duke's helmet off after the boy had crashed headfirst into a nearby tree. "I'll go get Teo and help him back up; I guess we are making camp here tonight." Suki gave him a small smile before he continued. "I can try to make dinner if you want to rest up a bit…" he said.

"Aww, that's so sweet…" Suki replied, her face taking on a mischievous grin. "Maybe I can make it up to you later?" She said, switching into the most innocent smile she could muster.

Sokka's eyes widened in terror and he immediately took off after Teo. "No way, not gonna happen!" he yelled over his shoulder, leaving Suki incredibly confused.

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Zuko finished packing up camp and waited for Katara to finish cleaning up breakfast. Toph and Aang had already left, so they were on their own now. Katara had told Zuko that she couldn't heal broken bones all at one time, because apparently she had skipped the lesson that day to try convincing Pakku to teach her 'real waterbending.' She guessed that he would be back to normal in about a week, which was when they planned on meeting back up with Suki and Sokka. He noticed it felt better every time she worked on it, and couldn't help but marvel at how helpful her element could be.

"Ready?" Katara asked him, shaking the firebender from his thoughts. She was carrying the bag of clothes they had, mostly Fire Nation disguises for when they got to Ba Sing Se. Zuko was left with the tent and cooking supplies. They decided to be mature and share a tent since carrying two would be a waste of energy, and they only brought the bare minimum cooking supplies that Katara could live with.

"Yep, let's get moving." Zuko slung the gear over his shoulder with his one good arm, and the two began making their way to Ba Sing Se. Zuko had studied the Earth Kingdom maps extensively during his time at sea, so he knew that there were two villages between them and the Earth Kingdom Capital. They were small enough that disguises were most likely unnecessary, although Zuko still was not fond of the risk. It took Katara half an hour to persuade him not to make her wear Fire Nation clothing.

The two had casual conversations about their lives before the war, training in their elements, and how badly they thought things were going for Sokka back with the others. Around lunchtime, they arrived in the second village, which Katara was relieved to see. She hadn't wanted to pass through the first without getting food, but Zuko swore they were close enough to the other one.

They dropped their supplies just outside a small restaurant and went inside to get something to eat. Zuko noticed that the town was not occupied by the Fire Nation, but thought little of it. Katara wanted to check on their things while they waited for their food, so Zuko was left alone in the diner. He heard two women talking about Ba Sing Se, and decided to listen in on the conversation.

"I heard it was led by a firebender," the first woman said. She was a large woman, and wore a green and brown dress that she had clearly been working in. The other girl was smaller, and looked as though she was around Zuko's age.

"Who cares who it was led by; they actually managed to pull it off." The younger girl responded.

"There is no way a firebender would take Ba Sing Se away from their own people just to give it back to the Earth Kingdom. They are clearly up to something." Zuko stopped listening as he processed what he had heard. Had his uncle really managed to pull it off? How could a bunch of old gasbags manage to take an entire city back over the course of a week? Zuko hoped it was true, but was not looking forward to the 'I told you so' he was sure to receive had Iroh really managed to liberate the capital.

Katara walked back into the restaurant after making sure all of their supplies were safe. She took her seat next to Zuko just as their food came, and the two began to happily eat the first meal Katara had not had to cook in over a month "Food tastes so much better when you don't have to cook it yourself," she said in between bites of her roasted duck.

"Meh, I like your cooking better, but you deserve a break." Zuko said, causing Katara to blush at the compliment. The two women that had been talking about Ba Sing Se got up and made their way to leave, but Zuko stopped them as they made their way past his table. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation… Did you say something about Ba Sing Se being freed?" Zuko asked, shocking Katara with his ability to be so polite. She had never seen him interact with people he didn't know… unless he was shooting fire at them.

"You haven't heard," asked the younger girl, giving Zuko a look Katara did _not_ like. "Ba Sing Se was freed three days ago." Zuko and Katara looked at each other with a mixture of shock and joy as the two women left them.

"Well, that should make things easier, huh Zuko?" Katara asked smiling. Zuko nodded, despite the feeling of dread he had toward confronting his uncle and Mai.

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Toph made her way slowly up to where Aang was sitting on Appa's head. She hated not being able to see, so she decided that if she could work up the courage to move to find Aang while flying through the air, she could tell him how she felt. "Hey Toph, starting to get a hang of the flying thing, huh?" Aang asked once he noticed her presence.

"Not at all, Twinkletoes, this still sucks." Aang laughed and Toph began to brace herself. She spent a few moments mustering all of the courage and bracery she could possibly find. _Give me fifty Fire Nation soldiers and I'm perfectly fine, but when I have to talk about my _feelings_… ugh. _She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to finally tell Aang how she felt about him-

"Thanks for coming with me, Toph." Aang said, causing her to be quickly confused. "I know I need to be able to put aside every distraction if I'm gonna do this, and you always do a good job of keeping me focused, so thanks."

Toph realized that everything she was about to say could only be seen as a distraction, and decided that it just wasn't the right time. She was starting to think it never would be. "No problem, Twinkletoes. I don't want to be a distraction." She didn't even try to mask the disappointment in her voice.

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It was getting late. The sun had already set and Zuko and Katara were just arriving in the Central part of Ba Sing Se. There was so much celebration and partying going on that no one even seemed to notice them as they made their way to the Upper Ring. Katara was convinced Zuko had no idea where he was going, but she followed him nonetheless. "Uhh, Zuko," she said, causing the firebender to turn to look at her. "Where are we going?"

Zuko smiled and turned to continue walking. "If I know my uncle at all, the first thing he would do after liberating Ba Sing Se is ask for his tea shop back." Katara remembered seeing Zuko waiting tables and couldn't help but break down laughing. "What's so funny?" Zuko asked.

"I'm sorry; I'm just remembering what you looked like wearing an apron and waiting tables… It is so… not you." She continued giggling while Zuko merely smiled and shook his head. He waited for her to stop laughing and continued to stare at her for a little while longer just to make her feel awkward.

"Can we move on now?" Zuko asked. Katara nodded and they began to walk toward the Jasmine Dragon once again. Katara tried to control the laughter that was still trying to get out, and Zuko just rolled his eyes and kept walking while Katara snickered uncontrollably behind him.

This continued until they reached the tea shop, and Zuko knocked loudly on the large wooden doors. After a couple seconds, the door slowly opened to reveal a smiling Iroh standing in the doorway. "Well hello nephew, what a surprise. Did you hear about what happened in Ba Sing Se?" Iroh asked, a massive smile plastered on his face.

"Haha Uncle. I get it, you were right and I was wrong, happy?" Iroh smiled as Zuko tried to keep his expression neutral.

"Oh by the way nephew, you'll be interested to see what I came across the other day." Iroh opened the door fully and motioned Zuko and Katara to come in. Zuko's eyes landed on a tall, elegantly dressed woman with long, flowing black hair. Tears sprang to his eyes as he crossed the room in less than a heartbeat, enveloping the woman in a vice grip of a hug.

Tears flowing down his face, Zuko only managed to choke out one word.

"Mom?"

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**A/N: Yah, there it is. Soo I had plenty of time to read through this entire fic multiple times and I noticed a few things. 1. It is poorly written. 2. There are quite a few grammar mistakes and some spelling ones that im going to claim are the result of faulty autocorrect. 3. Some chapters are insanely short. And 4, some AN's are extremely long.**

**I can't really fix my lack of writing skill, so you will have to bear with me on number one. As for the rest, my plan is during the next update to delete the stupid AN's and combine a couple short chapters. That means that most likely, this fic will have less words and less chapters on the next update, but I will still have added a new chapter and I will not change the story at all. I will try to fix grammar stuff later, but I might not get around to it. I just hate having a bunch of short chapters with long ANs, and no, the irony of that statement is not lost on me.**

**Review? I think yes?**


	25. Chapter 24

**A/N: I lied… I didn't want to put chapters together, I might do that at the end, but I did take out the useless AN's, so there's that. I also typed this chapter up about five months faster than the last one, so I have not yet revised the other chapters. Without further ado, I give you chapter 24!**

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"_Mom?" _Zuko asked, holding the woman as though she was about to disappear again. He vaguely noticed that he was now taller than her, but didn't seem to care about that as tears flowed freely down his face. He felt nearly sick with emotion, feeling a mix of pure happiness, childish attachment, and for some odd reason, a bit of contempt. He suddenly felt overwhelmed by the situation, as Ursa was still processing what was going on. Zuko felt the need to sit down, his body had reacted before his mind had made sense of anything, but it was now catching up with him.

"Zuko," his mother finally responded, her tone soft and caring, but still clearly choked with tears of joy. Zuko collapsed into the nearest chair, feeling reluctant to let go of his mother after being apart for so long. She sat smiling in the chair across from him and studied him for a second with an unreadable expression. Zuko's mind mistook this as shock, and his overwhelmed brain raced with thoughts at the speed of light. _Does she hate me for betraying our country? Is she disappointed in the way things happened? Is she horrified by… my scar?_

After a mere three seconds that felt like an eternity to Zuko, she smiled at him as she tried to brush the tears from her eyes. "Your Uncle has told me a lot about what has happened to you recently," she started, causing Zuko to tense in anticipation. He wasn't even sure he wanted his mother to know all of the mistakes he had made and the things he had done. He was worried she would be angry with him, hurt by things he had done, or worst of all, disappointed in the decisions he had made. "I'm so proud of you." He visibly relaxed at that statement before smiling one of the happiest smiles of his life.

"You're not mad? Even though I betrayed our country?" Zuko asked, doing his best to hold a bit of composure.

"It's not like your father left you much choice," came Ursa's bitter response, though it seemed like she had said it more toward herself than Zuko. She shook her head and smiled back at her son. "But no Zuko, I'm not mad. You had to make some very tough decisions, but I believe you made the right ones. Besides, I'm your mother. I will always love you and support you no matter what."

At this Zuko's mind turned back to the past few years, when she _hadn't _been there to support him. He became angry at the thought, and couldn't help but resent those years. "Then why didn't you ever say anything? I thought you were dead, did you just not try, or were you too busy to care?" His mind slowly realized that he was too emotional to control himself, and he had always handled that by getting angry in the past. He forced himself to calm down before slowly allowing tears to fall from his face once again. "I missed you so much, and I never even knew that you were still out there. I could have searched for you and- and…" He trailed off as he lost control of his emotions once again, breaking down and hugging his mother once again as though he were still a little boy.

She had tears streaming from her eyes as well, regretting that she hadn't known of her son's banishment. "I know Zuko, and I'm so, so sorry." The two just said, holding each other until they ran out of tears.

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Katara and Iroh had left the room pretty much as soon as they had arrived to give Zuko and Ursa some privacy. Iroh had led her upstairs to show her to a room before explaining that he hadn't been expecting anyone but Zuko to come along. They only had one extra room, but there were two beds. Katara insisted it was fine, and settled on going to bed early rather than waiting for Zuko.

Unfortunately, seeing Zuko reunited with his mother made Katara think of her own. She was truly happy for Zuko, but for some reason she felt jealous. It wasn't his fault, and she knew that, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't fair. It wasn't like she wanted Ursa to drop dead or anything, but if Zuko got his mother back, why couldn't she? She knew that it was completely ridiculous to feel jealous of Zuko's family life, especially when both his sister and father were out to kill him. So why did she still feel like he had done something wrong?

The waterbender began to think of all the memories she had of her mother, which was a far smaller number than she liked. After recalling everything she could about Kya, she began to reminisce on her old memories of the South Pole. She remembered her Gran-Gran yelling at Sokka when he melted part of their house trying to build a fire. She remembered all of the people of her tribe, and all of the fun things she had been able to do without fear of being attacked by Fire Nation soldiers who were after her best friend.

For the first time since she had left, Katara was feeling homesick.

She allowed a fear tears to fall as she continued to think about her home, but then a new thought occurred to her. If she was going to end up with Zuko, which had become a very likely possibly in her mind, there was no way she would be able to live at the South Pole. It wasn't like he could rule the Fire Nation from the Southern Water Tribe, and Katara wasn't about to ask him to. She thought that Iroh might take over as Firelord, which _could _buy her some time living at home, but Zuko was the only possibility for a successor. Even if he didn't become Firelord immediately after the war, there was a very good chance Zuko would still want to live at his home. He hadn't been there for three years, while Katara had only been away for under a year.

She was shook from her thoughts when the firebender entered the room, and she could tell he was really tired. She decided to pretend she was asleep, allowing him to go straight to bed. "Hey Katara," he said, his voice still slightly shaky. She sat still, not sure whether or not she wanted to let Zuko knew she was awake. "I know you're awake." She sighed, wondering how he did that.

She turned to look at him and saw that he was smirking, despite still being red from earlier. "Yeah okay, fine. What's up?" She asked casually, hoping the conversation wasn't going to be too personal. She didn't want Zuko to know she was jealous of him.

"I was wondering…" Zuko started, looking awkward and uncomfortable. This confused Katara, as she couldn't think of anything that would make Zuko uncomfortable around her. Her mind raced with the possibilities, and she became worried. "Would you… go on a date with me tomorrow?"

Katara looked at Zuko in shock for a few seconds before laughing hysterically. Zuko lowered his eyebrow in annoyance, trying to figure out just what was so funny. Once Katara finally got a hold of herself, she had to wipe tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry, you just looked so scared it was hilarious." Zuko's eyebrow twitched at this point, as he was still waiting for an answer. "We're kinda dating, Zuko. Why would you be afraid to ask me on a date?" Zuko rolled his eyes and took off his shirt to go to bed.

"Whatever, never mind. See you tomorrow." He sounded angry, as though Katara had offended him by not answering. She had to stifle more laughter at his response, since she didn't want to make him actually angry.

"I'm just kidding Zuko, I would be glad to go with you." Zuko huffed in response, and Katara laughed at his poor relationship skills. For someone with so much confidence in everything he did, Zuko was pathetic when it came to girls.

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Toph and Aang arrived at the Eastern Air Temple early the next day. Toph had spent the entire time feeling depressed and debating when the right time to talk to Aang about her feelings would be. She had decided that she would have to wait until after the war, but her restless mind still would not allow her to get any rest. She figured that flying on Appa when he wasn't being guided was a major factor in her restlessness, but it didn't really matter.

She got off the bison with Aang as Appa promptly rolled to his side and began to sleep. After quickly wishing Aang luck and pointing him in the direction of the only other person at the temple, Toph quickly followed suit and began to drift off as well. Aang made his way through the temple until he finally managed to find Guru Pathik, who was meditating in front of a wide view of the ocean. Aang vaguely wondered how the guru could manage to meditate as much as he did, but it wasn't important, so he ignored the thought.

"Ahh, young Avatar. Have you come for more onion and banana juice?" Aang's eyes widened in horror as Pathik smiled without turning to face the monk.

"No, I'm here to master the Avatar State. I'm ready to let go of my earthly attachments and face my destiny." Aang sounded determined and serious, forcing himself to believe his words.

Guru Pathik opened one eye in surprise at the airbender's words, but only managed a sigh in response. "That is very noble of you Aang, but unfortunately, I will not be very much help." He turned to face Aang who was staring at him, confusion plastered on his face. "By leaving while opening the seventh chakra, you locked it. That path to mastering the Avatar State is no longer available to you." Aang's eyes widened in disbelief. "If you want to master the Avatar State, you must first master the four elements."

"No, that's impossible. There is no way I can master all four elements before Sozin's Comet gets back. There isn't enough time! There has to be another way!" Guru Pathik shook his head sadly, giving Aang all the answer he needed.

"I'm sorry, Avatar Aang."

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Katara finished up healing Zuko's arm for the morning and helped him with his shirt. It was almost completely fixed, and she figured it was probably already usable, just a little painful. Zuko was still amazed at her healing abilities, and couldn't believe how much better his arm felt after every session. "So," Katara started, "Where are we going on our date?" Zuko smiled to himself as he finished making his bed.

"Oh, you'll see." He didn't want to give anything away, and he had actually planned out a date for the entire day. The main part of it would be the fountain he had gone to on his date with Jin. He loved how the firelight from the candles had reflected off the water, which was kind of similar to how his relationship with Katara. She brought out all of the best qualities in him, and he wanted to make sure she knew how much she meant to him. He also wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, especially with Sozin's Comet approaching so quickly. They would have just over two weeks by the time they met back up with Sokka and the others.

"That is so not fair! At least give me a hint." Katara said, and proceeded to fake put when Zuko said no. After eating breakfast with Iroh and Ursa, Zuko led Katara to one of the many celebrations that were still going on since Ba Sing Se's liberation. They talked and enjoyed the festivities while looking around at different shops and tasting different foods. Zuko hadn't had much time to see the Upper Ring the last time he was in Ba Sing Se, so he was really impressed by the difference in cleanliness… and the prices. Everything was way more expensive and much nicer, but it wasn't like they had a ton of money to spend. Katara refused to let Zuko buy her anything specifically for this reason, but he was keeping a mental list of anything she looked at longingly. He had wanted to give her something he was making for her, but it wasn't finished yet, so he had decided to get something else in the meantime. When Katara spent a good minute staring wide-eyed at a gold and silver bracelet, Zuko knew exactly what that something was.

They stopped to order lunch at a small diner that was not very crowded. After they sat down to wait for their food, Zuko told Katara that he had forgotten their money, and needed to run back to the tea shop to get it. He went to the store that had the bracelet Katara had seen, and asked the shop owner how much it cost. It cost all of the money Zuko had borrowed from his uncle, which was quite a bit, leaving just enough for the rest of the date. He studied the bracelet as the shopkeeper counted the money, and he noticed that it had a pattern that looked more like it was from the Water Tribes.

"What's with this design?" He asked the shopkeeper, who finally finished counting the coins and was putting them away.

"Ah, my wife found it while trading with some Water Tribesmen a few years ago. She bought a couple with the same design, but that is the most extravagant we had. She takes care of finding all of our jewelry based merchandise." Zuko nodded and left the shop, not really caring about the answer. He figured Katara would like it even better since it was more Water Tribe-esque.

When he walked back into the restaurant, Katara had just received their food, and Zuko sat down to eat. They resumed their conversation, which had been a debate on whether Sokka could beat Zuko in a foot race. "Okay, you're fast, but you have a hurt arm, so Sokka has an advantage."

"That would make perfect sense if I ran on all fours." Zuko said, earning a scoff from Katara.

"You still move your arms when you run…" She said.

"Not a problem," came Zuko's arrogant reply. He waved his hurt arm for emphasis, and showed none of the pain it caused him. Katara laughed as Zuko's eyebrow twitched in concentration.

"I'm the one healing that Zuko, I know it still hurts."

Zuko glared jokingly as Katara continued to giggle. "Look, unless there was meat or Suki at the end of the track, I guarantee you I could outrun Sokka." Katara laughed and the debate carried on as Zuko paid and the two left. They continued talking as they walked aimlessly around the city, already bored of the celebrations going on. Zuko had been expecting them to be more entertaining, as the Fire Nation parties had always been bigger and better. He had no plan until dinner, but got lucky when Katara stumbled across a sign advertising some play.

"That looks awesome, can we go?" Zuko looked at the price and shrugged.

"If you don't mind eating at the Jasmine Dragon, sure." Katara smiled and nodded as Zuko groaned inwardly. The play was some stupid romance story, and he didn't want to eat with his uncle present on his date. He could already imagine the barrage of innuendos he was sure to have thrown at him. Hopefully Katara wouldn't catch them, though he already knew his uncle wouldn't try very hard to keep it subtle. "Are you sure, it _is_ just a play." Zuko tried to not show disinterest, but he was sure Katara could tell.

"I've never seen a real play before. I think it could be fun!"

"You've never seen a play before?" Katara shook her head. "Alright then, play it is." Zuko feigned a smile as he and Katara went into the show. They continued talking until it started, and Zuko was immediately bored out of his mind. Katara was the exact opposite, focusing on every detail of the set, the costumes, and the actors. Zuko watched her expression as the show continued, and found it almost comical how her face changed with the theme of the scene. He was watching Katara pretty much the entire time, and didn't even notice what was going on until the lights came on and everyone started clapping. _Wait, it's over? Did I just spend that whole time watching Katara? _

Zuko clapped along with everyone else until he and Katara got up to leave. She was gushing about how great the play was, but Zuko was distracted by his thoughts. He had definitely just spent a little over two hours watching his girlfriend's face, and the crazy thing was it didn't feel weird. It actually felt… right. He knew Katara was beautiful, but he hadn't ever considered just staring at her. He realized he could probably have done nothing but look at her the entire date and he would have been happy, and realized that he had never felt that way about anyone before. He smiled to himself as he decided it had only confirmed what he had talked about with his mother the previous night.

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"That's ridiculous Aang, there is no way you can master all four elements in the next two weeks! You aren't even that close with earthbending, no offence." Toph said as she begrudgingly climbed back onto Appa.

"Well that's what Guru Pathik said, so that's what I have to do. I figure if we head straight to Ba Sing Se and catch Zuko and Katara there I can get a head start on firebending. It's a little risky, but we are running out of time." Aang said. Appa took to the sky with a quick yip yip from Aang, who had a look of pure determination on his face.

"So I suppose there is still no time for… _distractions_, huh?" Toph asked, hesitantly settling on distractions rather than relationships.

"Uh, why? Is there something you need to do before we had back to the others?" Aang asked, praying the answer was no.

Toph steeled herself, knowing that if she didn't speak her mind here and now she might never be able to work up the courage to do it. "Kinda, yeah." She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Aang, I-I really like you, and uh… I don't know I thought maybe… we could, uh…" Toph couldn't see the smile on Aang's face because she was sitting on Appa, so she took his lack of response as him not wanting to hurt her. "Gah! This is Stupid! Never mind, Sparky just gave me some really bad advice."

"Hold on, maybe we could what?" Aang asked, moving closer to Toph.

"Umm, I was gonna say something like…" Toph's voice became small and timid, as though she was truly scared of Aang's response. "_Go out, or something?"_ Toph's face turned a dark pink as she waited for Aang's reply.

Aang smiled even wider as he realized that Toph had a crush on him. He had never really thought too much about how he felt about his earthbending teacher, but he definitely _did_ like her. "I'm sure I can find some time for that." He said, earning a smile from Toph as well. Maybe he couldn't master the Avatar State anymore, but at least he could still have _earth_ly attachments.

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Zuko and Katara sat together on a small hill near the outskirts of Ba Sing Se. Zuko had managed to get through dinner with surprisingly little embarrassment, and his mother didn't even hint at their previous conversation when she was talking to Katara. He had a feeling she had already told Iroh, considering he winked every time Katara wasn't looking. He was drawn from his thoughts as Katara began to speak again.

"It's so beautiful," she said, watching as the sun set over the horizon. She smiled at Zuko and wiggled closer to him as he looked out at the sun as well.

"Yeah, it is." The firebender had never noticed the sunset before, but it was really nice. He couldn't help but smile at the fact that he had had three years to watch sunsets and had never done so. Now, as he got even closer to the day that could very well decide the fate of the world, watching it with Katara was the only thing he wanted to do. "You know what else is beautiful?"

Katara laughed and rolled her eyes without turning to face him. "Don't even think about saying me, Zuko. That is so cliché." Zuko laughed at this also, and Katara turned to look at him.

"I wasn't, though you are definitely _very_ beautiful." Katara blushed as Zuko pulled the bracelet out of his pocket. "I was talking about this." Zuko handed Katara the bracelet, and her eyes lit up as she inspected it more closely.

"You bought me this? How did you know? When did you get it?" Zuko smiled and got up, helping Katara to her feet, and then started walking toward the Lower District as he talked.

"I saw you staring at it through the window earlier and bought it when I said I was going to get money." Zuko shrugged, as though it was no big deal, which to him it really wasn't. He had been used to seeing that kind of fancy jewelry, and had never really thought much of it.

"I love it, thank you! But, you didn't have to buy this for me…" Katara had already put the bracelet on and was still studying its design as she followed Zuko. The bracelet was mostly silver, with a gold lining. The design was a series of waves outlined in gold going all the way around the bracelet. It was fairly simple, but still very beautiful. Katara figured it was the most valuable thing she had ever held in her hands.

She continued staring at it around her wrist and didn't notice that Zuko had stopped walking. She bumped into his back and stumbled backward, causing Zuko to laugh at her. Her mouth dropped when she saw what was behind Zuko, a massive fountain with small torches all around the outside. "Woah…"

"You like it?" Zuko asked as Katara stepped up next to him. She smiled and nodded in response so he continued. "I saw it when I was living here with my uncle. I guess the way the fire mixes with the water sorta reminds me of…" Zuko rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as Katara looked at him while he finished, "of us."

Katara laughed softly and Zuko smiled. He loved making her happy, and wanted to be able to do so forever. He turned and looked at his reflection in the water, which was soon joined by Katara's. "This has been a really great day, Zuko. Thank you." He smiled and put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. They stayed like that in silence for a while, before Zuko pulled away and turned to look Katara in the eyes.

"Katara, I-" Zuko looked down and took a deep breath before locking eyes with Katara again. She saw the same determination that had always been there, except this time she could see something more. His eyes were passionate, and his voice held the same emotions. "I love you."

His eyes didn't stray away, and he held Katara's gaze with the same confidence he displayed in battle. "I- I love you too." They both smiled before Zuko closed the gap between them and kissed her passionately. He wasn't going to pull away quickly this time either.

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**A/N: The hill was supposed to be the same one Iroh honored Lu Ten at in Tales of Ba Sing Se. Also, I'm a guy, and one who knows nothing about jewelry. Just clearing that up so no one flames me for my terrible jewelry description or lack of ability to get inside Katara's mind when it comes to dating. Yah, Review!**


	26. Chapter 25

**A/N: Hey everyone! This chapter is kinda choppy, with a little skimming of a couple of monotonous weeks. You'll see what I mean. This is the second to last chapter, with the next one being the finale. I'll update this one more time when I release the sequel, but it is finally coming to a close. I have been doing a terrible job responding to reviews, so I vow to personally respond to each one for this chapter, so review. More importantly, enjoy Chapter 25!**

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Aang and Toph had flown throughout the night, determined to reach Ba Sing Se as quickly as possible. The young airbender sat on Appa's head, eyes scanning the horizon for the trademark stone wall. He knew that Appa was getting tired, but he also knew that he would need to get to Zuko to start his firebending as soon as he could. Toph was asleep in the saddle and the sun was just beginning to rise when Aang spotted the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom capital. He still had no idea that the city had been liberated, and wasn't exactly sure how he planned on finding his firebending master. He figured the easiest way would be trying to spot them from the air, but he was worried about the kind of attention it would attract. He had eighteen days until the comet arrived, and he had a ton of firebending to master in that amount of time. There was no time to waste on staying safe, and if Aang wanted even the slightest chance of mastering the Avatar State in time for Sozin's Comet, he knew he would need to reunite with Zuko before the day was over.

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Zuko had gotten up early and was out watching the sunrise in the back of Iroh's apartment. So much had happened in the past few months and he had never really had time to process any of it. Hell, enough had happened in the past few days for the firebender to be in dire need of some serious alone time. While he was really enjoying spending the time with his mother, uncle, and Katara, he had a nagging feeling that something bad was going on with Aang. He sighed as he sat leaning on the trunk of the lone tree in the small yard. "You sound a little stressed," came his mother's playful voice from behind him. She sat down next to Zuko and stared at the rising sun with him. "Is it about Katara again?"

Zuko shrugged slightly. "Among other things, yes. I'm pretty confident about all of that stuff; I'm a lot more worried about Aang right now."

Ursa laughed lightly and put an arm around Zuko's shoulder like she had when he was a kid. "Worried about him mastering the Avatar State or the fact that your father and sister are trying to kill him?" She talked playfully, trying to lighten the situation, but it was too close to the day of the comet for Zuko to feel comfortable.

"Both. Frankly, I'm not even sure Aang can defeat the Firelord in the Avatar State, and if he loses… it's over." Ursa sighed at her son's dark tone, hating the amount of pressure he was under.

"We just have to believe that Aang will be strong enough to defeat your father… there isn't too much else that we can do." Zuko huffed in annoyance.

"That's the problem," he said, getting up to emphasize his frustration. "I feel like I need to do more; like I should be able to help him fight. Why does the fate of the world have to rest on his shoulders? I don't think he has the guts to do what needs to be done…" Ursa stood up and put her hand on Zuko's shoulder, smiling reassuringly at him. Just as she was about to respond, they both heard a loud groan and looked to the sky to find Appa flying overhead. "Aang?"

"I'll go get Iroh and Katara," Ursa said as she turned to head inside.

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Appa was flying over the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se when a blast of fire shot up a few feet away from them. Aang looked to where the poorly fired blast had come from, and noticed a small figure standing alone in a small yard. Another blast shot up at them, clearly not trying to actually make contact with the flying bison. Aang guided Appa toward the ground to see what was going on, and sped the bison up once he realized that Zuko was the one firing at them. Appa landed in the grass, taking up almost all of the room behind Iroh's apartment. And Toph and Aang dismounted as Iroh, Ursa, and Katara made their way outside.

Zuko was right next to Aang by the time he hit the ground. "Please tell me mastering the Avatar State was way easier than you had expected." Aang looked down in shame and smiled sheepishly.

"Umm, not exactly. Apparently the only way to master the Avatar State now is..." the monk rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his voice to a barely audible level. "… to master all four elements." Katara's eyes widened and Zuko stood awestruck.

"No…" Katara started, vaguely wondering if it could just be a bad dream she was about to wake up from. "Y-you can't be serious. How- but… That's not possible."

"There is no way you can master firebending in eighteen days. Even if my uncle teaches you; that just isn't realistic." Zuko said. A momentary silence fell across the group as Zuko tried to think of a plausible course of action. "Okay, so I can go get Sokka and the others while my uncle teaches you firebending and then we can-" Iroh cut Zuko off from his rant by coughing loudly from behind the flustered firebender.

"That won't work. I'm leaving to go to the Eastern part of the Earth Kingdom. I'm meeting back up with the Order of the White Lotus to plan our invasion of the Fire Nation on the day of the Comet… We figured that Ozai would be spending most of his resources focusing on taking back Ba Sing Se and the Palace City would be left vulnerable."

"Katara and I could go get Snoozles and his girlfriend while you teach Aang." Toph added, but Iroh shot down her idea as well.

"All of you will need to head East as well. If you can catch the Fire Nation Army off guard on the coastline you will have a bit of an advantage. If you allow them to reach Ba Sing Se, they will already be prepared to attack and expecting resistance."

"What if Aang and Zuko train during the day and Katara and Toph fly back at night?" Ursa offered. "This way you can travel and still get in as much practice as possible."

"That sounds like the best idea we have…" Katara said, and the others nodded in agreement. "I'll go get started on breakfast and then packing all of our stuff." Katara turned to head inside, followed by Ursa, Toph, and Iroh.

"I'll go take a quick nap and then we can start training." Aang said as he started making his way inside, only to be jerked back by the collar of his shirt.

"Not happening. We don't have time to waste." Zuko said, causing Aang to turn and look at him skeptically.

"I agree, but I haven't slept in almost a full day." Aang whined, watching as Appa laid down and drifted off into his own slumber.

"You can sleep when you're dead." Zuko responded forcefully. _I just hope it doesn't come to that…_

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Everyone was loaded onto Appa's saddle, ready to head off to pick up the others. Aang fell asleep before his head hit his pillow, and Katara grabbed the reigns to lead them back to the Air Temple. Aang's training session had been focused on 'defensive firebending,' which basically meant dissipating fire before it actually struck anything. Aang had not created a single spark of his own fire, but had spent all day being shot at and told to only use firebending to block the blasts. Ten hours of this with very few breaks had left the monk singed, tired, hungry, and thirsty. Even Zuko had begun to feel fatigued by the end, and he too was planning on sleeping through the night as the Gaang made their way back to the Eastern Air Temple. Katara and Toph had slept during the day, so they were going to stay up and guide Appa. Toph couldn't do much of the actual steering, but decided to keep Katara company on the long ride back.

After everyone had said their goodbyes and was ready to leave, Katara commanded Appa into the skies and moved back to the saddle with the others after steering the bison in the correct direction. Toph had her usual take-off death grip on the saddle and Aang was sleeping with Momo curled up next to his sleeping roll. Zuko was still a bit shaken up after having to leave his mother so soon, and couldn't seem to fall asleep. Katara noticed and scooted over to him, trying to think of how to comfort the firebender.

"Don't worry about it Katara, I'm fine." Zuko said, shocking the girl out of her thoughts. She hadn't been expecting him to break the silence, and she could easily tell he was lying.

"No you're not, and I wouldn't expect you to be… I can't imagine how hard it must be to leave her so soon after you found her again." Zuko sat up next to his girlfriend, smiling slightly as he put an arm around her shoulder.

His expression saddened quickly as he was unable to fake a smile with everything going on. "I just can't help but worry that this was the last time I will ever see her…" Katara turned to Zuko in surprise, slightly angered at his pessimistic outlook.

"Don't talk like that Zuko. You'll be fine." She said confidently, trying to hide the fear she was feeling as well. "We all will…" She finished a little softer and less sure.

"I hope you're right Katara." Zuko sighed as if he was dismissing the topic. "I need to get some sleep, I have a lot of training to do tomorrow."

Katara nodded and allowed him to lie down. "Goodnight," she said softly, her thoughts shifting to everything that was going to happen in just over two weeks. Zuko responded with a soft 'goodnight' of his own, and Katara made her way back up to Appa's head as she prepared for a long night of flying and thinking about the future.

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The group kept the same schedule for the next two days, and finally reached the Eastern Air Temple early in the morning. Aang still had not even begun to produce flames of his own, as Zuko claimed that his first priority was to stay alive, and that he had three other elements he could attack with. Toph quickly found Sokka and the others as they had ended up circling back near the temple after another incident rendered one of Teo's wheels useless. Sokka and Haru had been forced to carry the younger boy, and had taken a full three days to backtrack to the temple grounds. Katara slept for a while in the morning to rest up after flying all night, but woke up in time to prepare a modest lunch for the entire group. Zuko and Aang only stopped by long enough to pick up their food before heading back to their training, leaving Katara and Toph to explain the situation to everyone else. Teo, The Duke, and Haru decided to fix Teo's wheelchair rather than listen in on the war plans, so Sokka and Suki were the only ones that needed filling in.

As Toph finished explaining and Katara left to go start dinner, Sokka's face fell and his tone darkened. "I guess Zuko and I will talk over some ideas later tonight… This is bad… This is _really _bad."

Suki nodded solemnly in agreement and Toph sighed heavily. "Yeah, we're in some serious trouble this time. We don't even know how their attack is going to get here. If they come by sea they could already be heading down around the South toward Chameleon Bay. They might just come straight across and make their way to Ba Sing Se on foot, _or_ they can come by air and move in all in one day. Plus we are going to need to take care of an entire firebending army _and _the Firelord himself."

Sokka looked at the blind earthbender thoughtfully before he decided to cancel out the first option. "They wouldn't come through the South, they lost virtually al of their control there when Ba Sing Se was liberated. They're probably spending a lot of time planning everything out step by step, so I doubt they have left yet. If they come by sea than Katara will have a slight advantage… but the airships would be a huge problem. Basically we are going to need a miracle, but we can discuss it more when Zuko and Aang are here."

Toph and Suki silently agreed and the three were left in silence until Katara broke it by announcing it was time for dinner. Teo, The Duke and Haru were relieved to be eating food cooked by Katara rather than Suki or Sokka, but neither warrior were paying any attention to their meal as they were both distracted by the upcoming comet. Suki offered to help wash the dishes when they were done eating, and Toph decided to deliver Zuko and Aang their meals.

She approached their makeshift training ground with the rapidly cooling plates of food, but neither bender noticed her entrance. "No! I know you're tired, but you have to keep your breathing steady! Breath is the key to firebending… do you really want to go over this again?" Zuko yelled, clearly annoyed that Aang hadn't mastered the basics yet. He knew he was expecting the kid to move way too fast, but the comet wasn't about to wait for anyone.

"No, please not that _again._" Zuko shot more blasts in Aang's direction in response, all of which the monk dissipated while keeping his breathing steady and even.

"Better… you have ten minutes to eat, and then we need to start back up again." Zuko said, nodding toward Toph when Aang looked at him confused. Aang sprinted toward the food and planned to fully relish every second of his small break, knowing that he would be worked even harder for the last few hours of daylight. Zuko walked over to the food and noticed the way Aang looked. There were bags under the monk's eyes, he looked slightly dehydrated and incredibly worn out. Zuko growled quietly to himself as he realized that pushing the young boy this hard would not get him anywhere, and that he wasn't going to make any progress until he was rested up a bit.

"On second thought Aang, take the rest of the night off. You need to get some sleep. We'll start back up at sunrise." Aang blinked at his teacher in surprise, but who was he to argue? He grabbed his plate and scrambled out of the clearing before Zuko could change his mind, leaving the stressed out firebender alone with Toph.

"Sokka wanted to talk to you about our plans for the day of the comet, if you're done for the night it might be a good idea…" Zuko nodded at the earthbender as they started back toward the main area. By the time they got back, Katara and Suki had already finished up the dishes and were sitting around the fire with Sokka. Zuko and Toph sat down and the firebender began to eat as Toph explained that Aang needed the night off to rest.

"So…" Katara started, waiting for someone to throw out an idea for the battle plans.

Zuko broke the ice, being as direct as he possibly could. "There is no way Aang is mastering fire in two weeks. Even training this much and as talented as he is, there is no possible chance."

"Maybe if you actually taught him to use _fire_ he would have a better chance. He hasn't even made a flame yet." Sokka responded, slightly agitating Zuko.

"I'm trying to keep the kid alive. With the comet boosting firebending it's the only element that he is going to be able to protect himself with. He has three others that he can use to attack, and staying alive is the first priority. We don't necessarily have to win the war on the day of the comet; we just need to survive it." Zuko said, refusing to lose his composure when he needed to stay cool headed the most.

"I agree," said Suki, "but a good offense really helps keep an opponent off their game. Attacking with the other elements will help, but like you said, fire is the only one that is really going to make a difference. Do you really think Aang can just duck and dodge the entire time the comet is there?"

Zuko sighed heavily, knowing the only real option they had left at this point. "No, I don't. Aang will definitely need firepower if he wants to survive this fight. There is no way he is going to be good enough at firebending to fight my father with it in two weeks. Our best bet is if I fight my father with Aang while you guys focus on taking out the army before it can start its attack."

"What?" Katara asked, standing to yell at Zuko. "No way. You aren't good enough to fight your father and we all know it! What if you get hurt?"

"That's kinda the point. If Aang and I team up on him we stand a decent chance, and if all else fails, I'll be there to protect Aang. He is the most important person at this point."

Sokka, Suki, and Toph all begrudgingly agreed with the plan, figuring it was the best they could think of at the moment. "This is stupid! You know what, fine! You guys can all go get yourselves killed!" Katara yelled before storming off to her room. She hated the idea of losing anyone else she cared about to the Fire Nation, and refused to believe that there was no other option.

"Ugh, I'll go talk to her." Zuko said, getting up to follow her. He walked to the waterbender's room and found her sitting on her bed crying and holding her necklace. "Katara-" he started, but was quickly cut off.

"I don't want anyone else to die!" Katara wiped tears from her eyes as she tried in vain to stop crying. "It isn't fair; I've lost enough people to this war. Why do you have to get involved in this?" Zuko sighed as he sat down and enveloped Katara in a hug.

"I'm not dead yet, right? Who knows, maybe we'll be able to pull it off. But even if we can't, you know this is what we have to do."

"I-I know," Katara said in between sniffles. "I just wish no one else had to get hurt. Haven't we fought enough?"

"Heh, I'd say we've done more than our fair share of fighting. But once this is over, we won't have to fight at all anymore. I would say we have a pretty good cause though, wouldn't you?" Katara couldn't argue that the fate of the world was well worth fighting for, so she settled for pouting and refusing to accept that it was fair. "Besides, I seriously doubt I'll get hurt too badly." Katara looked up, curious as to what made him so confident. "I have something, or rather, _someone_ to hold on to now."

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"Good work today, maybe tomorrow we will start working with actual fire." Aang nodded excitedly and took off to go bathe before he went to bed. There were only five days until the comet would arrive, and Aang had already been informed of the plan to have Zuko fighting by his side during the comet. They had continued the pace of training all day every day, and Aang had been improving much faster since a little pressure had been lifted from him. He was an expert at every type of defensive bending Zuko knew, which had been a surprisingly high number. He had even learned to turn fire back on his opponent using some waterbending styles Katara had taught him.

Zuko walked slowly back to the temple taking his time to enjoy the quiet. He had noticed that as the comet drew nearer and nearer, he had enjoyed the calm serenity of the Eastern Air Temple more and more. He assumed it had something to do with the fact that he was worried he would die in a few days, but he didn't want to get too hung up on thoughts like that.

"Sokka, can I talk to you?" Zuko asked as soon as he got back to the main area. Sokka nodded and Zuko led him well away from all of the others. Once they were clearly out of sight, earshot, and far enough away that Toph would have trouble figuring out what was going on, the firebender pulled a blue ribbon out of his pocket. Attached to it was a small pendant that was in the shape of a perfect circle. It was a mixture of blue and red, with hints of purple wherever the two colors clashed. Etched on the front was a design Sokka had practically memorized by now, as it was the exact same as the one Katara always wore around her neck.

"I want to marry your sister."

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The sound of the crackling fire was the only thing that could be heard throughout the entire camp. No one wanted to be the first to go to bed, because no one was going to be falling asleep very easily. It was the night before the day of Sozin's Comet. Everyone was lost in thought, mentally preparing themselves for the coming day. They would eat breakfast in the morning, head to the coastline, drop Zuko and Aang off, and move out to try and attack the army while it was still in route to the Earth Kingdom. None of them were sure of what would happen, but all of them were afraid to find out.

Finally Katara couldn't take the silence anymore, and decided to break it. "We're all going to need some sleep if we want to be ready for tomorrow." It was a stupid statement since none of them _wanted_ to be ready for the next day. They _had _to be.

"Yeah well, this is really depressing and Sugar Queen is probably right. I'm going to bed." Toph got up and headed to her room without waiting for a response, mostly because no one was listening anyway. Aang soon followed her lead and went to bed as well. A few minutes later Suki got up and headed to her room without saying anything, and Sokka stood up a few minutes later.

"Goodnight. See you in the morning." Sokka said solemnly. Katara ignored the fact that Sokka had left in the opposite direction of his room and decided to focus more on the only person left with her.

Zuko sat across the fire from his girlfriend, his hand clutching the necklace in his pocket. Surprisingly, the fact that he was planning on proposing to Katara was making him more nervous than the comet. "Can we talk?" he asked her, noticing the slight look of confusion on her face. He figured his tone sounded incredibly serious, and he couldn't help but think it had probably scared her a little bit.

She nodded and he slowly led her around the temple, walking relatively aimlessly. He couldn't work up the courage to say what he wanted, and wondering why something so simple could possibly be so hard. "You seem nervous," Katara said as she stepped past Zuko and took the lead.

"You have no idea…" Zuko responded slowly, following as Katara walked further away from the fire.

"Yeah, I guess I'm nervous about it too. Of course, you're probably pretty scared too, huh?" Katara jested playfully, knowing full well that Zuko wouldn't admit to being afraid.

"Terrified, actually." Katara's mood dropped as she realized how scared the firebender would actually need to be in order to say it out loud.

"I can imagine. You and Aang are powerful though, I'm sure you'll be alright. Besides, I'll heal any damage you guys take. You definitely don't need to worry about the rest of us though. Just concentrate on fighting your own battle." Katara tried to be as reassuring as possible despite the fact that she was scared as well.

"I'm not worried about any of that… I'm scared of how you're going to react." Katara stopped walking in confusion and slowly turned to face Zuko.

"How I'm going to react to wha-" Her eyes widened as she turned to see Zuko holding a blue necklace with a blue and red pendant on the end.

"Will you marry me?" He asked, staring into cerulean eyes that began to tear up.

"I-I… Yes!" Came Katara's excited and teary response as she enveloped Zuko into a tight hug before pulling back to kiss him passionately. When they finally broke apart she noticed that Zuko also had tears in his eyes, and was smiling at her playfully.

"I guess I have nothing to be afraid of then." He hugged her again and held the embrace for what seemed like an eternity.

Neither bender could shake the nagging feeling that Zuko was wrong, and that there was definitely something to be afraid of.

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**A/N: Rewrite posted the same day as the original post. Suggestion to anyone writing stories out there: If you come up with a plot twist at three am, reread it when you are awake BEFORE you post it. For those of you that have already read the previous version of this final scene, I sincerely apologize for what may be one of the most epic examples of OOCness in any story ever written. I got to thinking that I could increase the drama in this fic with a little Zutara angst right before the comet, and proceeded to destroy any credibility this story may have had, as well as my own plot to a certain extent. To everyone who reviewed and kindly pointed out that the last scene redefined the word terrible, I would not be as nice as you were, and would just say that it straight up sucked. I am actually embarrassed that I posted that, and will not EVER be posting that late at night again. Ever. Sorry and I hope to god this rewrite is better, as it was the original idea anyway.**


	27. Chapter 26 Finale

**A/N: Welcome to the epic (probably not) conclusion of my first ever Fanfic: No Turning Back Now. Those of you who don't know already, I rewrote the final scene of the last chapter, so make sure you are up to date with the current thing… As I promised earlier, there **_**will**_** be a sequel to this story, but it will not be out for a while. My plan is to edit this story so I have changes to make when I update this one final time to announce the release of the sequel, which frankly (unless someone has a brilliant idea for me) is looking uneventful and mostly relationship drama. Without further ado, I present to you: Chapter 26!**

**The fight takes place in the same area that it did in the series, but of course Zuko and Katara aren't going to the Fire Nation. The two separate fights are taking place simultaneously, and I did my best to switch between the two as smoothly as possible.**

**Disclaimer: I was hoping that by the end of the story Mike and Bryan would have contacted me and offered me the rights to the show, but sadly it didn't happen. I **_**still **_**own nothing.**

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Aang's least favorite part of battle had always been the silence that preceded it. He stood next to Zuko, anxiously awaiting the fight he knew was soon to come. He stood tall, ready to fight for the fate of the world, eyes focused on the horizon searching for any sign of incoming enemies. The young Avatar knew how important this day would be, and he knew that it would take all of his effort just to stay alive. The Fire Nation would not be pulling any punches, and there would be no hesitation from his enemies when it came to striking him down. Perhaps the part Aang hated the most however, was the fact that he would not be able to do anything to protect his friends. They would be focusing on taking out an army of super powered firebenders while he was focused on fighting the Firelord with Zuko at his side. He inhaled deeply, knowing that there was no room for error, and no chance to turn and run.

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Sokka, Suki, Katara, and Toph all sat on Appa's back, hidden back between a few rocks, waiting for any sign of the Fire Nation. The silence was unbearable, but no one could think of anything to say.

That is, until Suki noticed something a little off about her friend.

"Katara, what happened to your necklace?" She asked, causing the waterbender's eyes to widen. She immediately looked to her brother, afraid of how he would react to her getting engaged to a 'jerkbender.'

"Umm… Zuko sorta… _proposed._" She finished her sentence as quickly and quietly as she could, praying that Sokka wouldn't hear. When his eyes narrowed, she decided to continue. "Sokka, it isn't your decision to make, I love him and-"

Sokka lifted a hand to cut her off. "Yeah, he asked me about it a couple days ago. Dad might not like it, but Zuko promised that if he ever hurt you I get to kill him as slowly as I want, so it seemed like a pretty good deal to me." Sokka smiled, knowing how important it was to Katara that Zuko was welcomed into the family. The only thing that really worried Sokka was the fact that Zuko would be the next Firelord, leaving very little time for the warrior to see his baby sister. She hugged him and he rolled his eyes while hugging her back, glad to see his sister so happy.

"Wait, you've known about this for _days_ and you haven't told me?" Suki asked, feigning anger at her boyfriend.

"I figured you wouldn't be able to keep your big mouth shut," he retorted, laughing as Suki acted offended.

"Hey, if you lovebirds could stop being pathetic for a second, you might want to watch out for the gigantic invasion coming at us. I'm not exactly gonna be able to see it coming." Toph said, waving her hand in front of her sightless eyes for emphasis. The others turned back to the front of Appa just in time to see the lead airship coming into view.

Sokka moved to the front and grabbed the reigns as he took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "Here we go. Appa, yip yip." With a groan the bison took to the sky, heading out to face the airship fleet as Sozin's Comet finally found its way into the atmosphere.

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Zuko watched as Appa took off toward the ocean, noticing the silhouette of an airship in the distance. As if on cue, he felt the sudden burst of energy that could only mean one thing: Sozin's Comet had returned.

The firebender inhaled deeply and lit a small fire in his palm, nodding to Aang to let him know the comet was there. As the lead airship made its way closer and closer to the shore, Zuko felt his power growing exponentially as the comet drew even nearer to Earth. Suddenly a large streak of fire shot out from underneath the airship, immediately disintegrating everything it touched. Zuko looked on in amazement as he realized the extent of the comet's power as Aang's eyes widened in horror.

"There is a soft spot on the side of the airship; I think it's part of the engine. Break it and the whole thing should come down." Zuko said to Aang, who nodded and jumped to a nearby rock pillar. Zuko and Aang had chosen to fight on a large cluster of these as the added height would most likely give Aang a major advantage since he had the capability of flying. The monk spun and kicked repeatedly, shooting large discs of earth out of the middle of the pillar at the airship before jumping back to Zuko as the pillar collapsed behind him. The rocks hit their target perfectly, causing three large explosions and sending the ruined ship hurtling towards the earth. "Nice shot."

The two benders noticed a small, bright flame shoot off the bottom of the ship as it descended. As it continued to grow larger and nearer, Zuko realized that it was his father, who was using a controlled blaze of fire to propel himself through the air. He landed on a column across from Zuko and Aang, smiling maniacally with a deadly glare etched on his face. "Well well, what an unpleasant surprise."

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"We need to get inside one of the airships without being noticed." Sokka yelled over his shoulder as the group flew toward the airship fleet.

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Toph yelled back, doing her best to project her skepticism over the wind rushing by their faces.

"We'll stay up in the cloud cover until we are behind them, then we can get as close as possible and jump on." Katara and Suki exchanged worried glances before hesitantly accepting that they were too low on options to argue. There was very little cloud cover to hide behind, but the airships weren't exactly designed to look up. Sneaking behind them proved to be easy, and Sokka had very little difficulty guiding Appa close to the back of one of them. Steadying herself at the edge of Appa's saddle, Katara prepared to jump onto the top of the oversized balloon. She rolled as she made contact with airship, and noticed that it was slippery and hard to balance on.

"Be careful when you land!" She yelled as Suki joined her. Toph was the next to come down, but hesitated at the edge of the saddle.

"Oh yeah, I'll just be sure to do that, thanks for the advice!" Toph yelled back sarcastically, clearly unhappy with her current situation. Summoning all the courage the master earthbender possessed, she leapt off of Appa and was promptly caught by her friends and placed softly on her feet. Sokka came down a few seconds later, but face planted after losing his balance on the landing. Despite the situation, Katara wasn't able to suppress her laughter, and Suki did her best to hold back giggles as she helped Sokka to his feet.

"Why didn't you guys catch me?" he whined, rubbing his nose in pain. Katara shook her head and began leading the group closer to the front of the ship, looking for any way of getting inside. Once they reached a point almost all the way to the front, they found a small hatch that Sokka was able to pry open with his space sword. The warrior peeked his head inside, and found himself peering into the control room, with at least seven crew members present. He quickly jumped back, wide eyed and breathing heavily. "Found the control room," he said when Suki looked at him in concern. "That and half a dozen soldiers…" he finished solemnly.

"What's it made out of?" Toph asked as she slowly moved closer to the opening.

"The room?" Sokka asked, receiving a slight nod in response as Toph hunched down next to the hatch. "Mostly metal, but why does that-" Sokka stopped as Toph jumped down into the room. The earthbender landed with a loud crash in the center of the room, and immediately began taking out the crew with her metal bending. Only one man was able to even get off a single blast of fire, which did nothing but heat up the metal suit Toph had bent herself into.

Katara and Suki looked down fearfully as a large blast of fire engulfed the area Toph had just entered. After a split second of silence, they heard a loud scream and the shattering of glass as a man (who appeared to be the captain) was sent flying down into the ocean. They looked on in pity for a moment before joining Toph in the control room, followed quickly by Sokka. "Great work Toph. Take the wheel," he said, nodding at Suki.

"Gee, that's a great idea. Let the blind girl fly the giant airship." Toph replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I was talking to Suki…" Sokka retorted, eyes narrowed at the blind earthbender. Sokka walked to the front and looked out the window at the lead airship, noticing a large stream of fire emanating from the front of it. "There is no way we're catching up to that thing…" Katara joined him at the front of the room as Toph bent her metal suit away from her body. As she was about to speak, the side of the lead ship exploded repeatedly before it began swiftly descending toward the earth.

Katara smiled as she realized what was happening. "Looks like we don't have to."

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"The Avatar and my son, fighting side by side… isn't that _cute_?" Ozai received a glare from his son in response as Aang struck a defensive pose. "It will be my pleasure to rid the world of its two biggest failures at the same time." Ozai turned to address Aang with an evil smirk on his face. "After years of avoiding my grasp, I finally get the chance to destroy you myself. If you think my pathetic son will do you any good this time around, you are sadly mistaken, _Avatar_." Ozai practically spat the last word, as if the sounds physically hurt to produce.

"You don't have to do this! We don't even half to fight. You have the power to end this here and now!" Aang replied, praying the Firelord would have some sort of epiphany and change his ways. Aang didn't want to fight and he definitely didn't want to kill anyone, but, if the fate of the world was at stake, he would do whatever he had to.

"You're right…" Ozai started, causing Aang's eyes to widen slightly with hope. "I have all the power in the WORLD!" Ozai yelled, a stream of fire pouring from his mouth as he finished his sentence. The Firelord jumped into action, sending a large ball of fire forward from each hand, curving them to switch targets at the last second. Zuko had been expecting a trick, and created a large wall of fire to dissipate both.

Aang then struck back with a gust of air before dislodging a large rock from the earth and firing it at top speed at the Firelord. Ozai closed his hands together and forced the air around them with fire. He noticed the rock hurtling towards him, and reared back, bringing his fist forward, covered in flames. The rock shattered on contact, and Ozai smirked at the look of shock on the Avatar's face. Moving swiftly forward, the master firebender jumped into the air and used the same move he had on the airship, forcing a large stream of fire forward from his hand as he made his way to the pillar Aang and Zuko were on. Zuko was forced to go completely defensive, and managed to block the fire by redirecting it in a circle around Aang and himself. When the wave of flames finally died down, Ozai was immediately behind it, fist aimed at Aang's face.

Aang's eyes widened and he shot himself backward with a large blast of air, landing softly on the closest pillar to him. He realized that he was now separated from Zuko, and quickly moved to get back to his ally. Ozai launched multiple waves of fire at his son, who simply dodged or blocked the flames until a slight miscalculation caused his foot to get singed. The pain prevented Zuko from landing properly, and fire engulfed his vision as he fought to recover his balance.

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Sokka and Katara watched in awe as flames flew back and forth between Ozai and their friends, but Suki was quick to pull them back to their primary focus. "Guys, how are we gonna stop this fleet? It's kind of one airship against nine." Sokka shook his head to focus his thoughts as fire erupted from the airship they were flying, followed closely by waves from the nine remaining ships.

"That's a lot of fire, isn't it?" Toph asked as she neared one of the windows, her sightless eyes gazing out across the expanse of burning forest and coastline. Something in Sokka's mind clicked and he began throwing different levers and switches. The firebender aboard the airship was thrown by the sudden boost in speed, and Sokka took the wheel as the airship reached its maximum velocity. Steering the airship higher into the air and further away from the rest of the fleet, Sokka locked a few things in place before turning sharply toward the other airships.

"What the hell are you doing?" Katara screamed in fear, watching as their airship swiftly closed the distance between the closest one to it.

"We need to get to the top of this thing, and fast!" Sokka grabbed Toph's hand and led her to the ladder before pushing her up and helping Suki and Katara start up as well. He followed quickly behind them and rushed up the ladder as fast as he could; throwing himself onto the top of the airship as it finally collided with its companion. "Get to Appa, NOW!" Sokka yelled at his friends, grabbing Toph's hand again and making a mad dash toward the back of the airship where Appa was still flying closely behind. Just as Sokka and Toph neared the flying bison, their airship made contact with a third vessel and split in two between where Katara and Suki were still running. Appa was forced to retreat as debris started flying everywhere, and Sokka watched as his sister and girlfriend began to plummet.

The warrior forced himself to focus, and he wrapped his arms around Toph's waist before sprinting to the side of the airship and throwing them both off the side. They landed hard on the top of another airship, but this one was rapidly spinning itself sideways. As Sokka searched for a place for them to go, two firebender's came to the top of the airship and began to fire at them. Sokka dove on top of Toph, forcing them both to start sliding off of the side. Sokka knew that at the rate they were falling there would be nothing underneath them when they fell, and quickly drew his space sword, jamming it into the side of the ship to slow their progress.

The difference in the time it took them to fall was miniscule, but it was just enough for Sokka's lower body to land on the metal balcony on the nearest airship's side. He felt his shoulder being dislocated as Toph's weight pulled it down toward the edge of the railing, but he focused more on the pain of his leg snapping on contact with the metal. He could feel the earthbender's grip slipping, and he knew his own strength was fading fast. "Just hold on Toph!" He yelled, as if the girl had any other choice. Moments later, four firebenders surrounded them, two on each side. Sokka drew and threw his sword before the two on his right could strike, cutting their only footing off of the airship. He then threw his boomerang at the others, causing their blast to miss completely as they dodged.

Out of weapons and almost out of strength, Sokka resigned himself to an untimely death and silently debated whether he would rather burn or fall. "I think this is it Toph, boomerang's not coming back this time!" He yelled down to the girl, whose eyes filled with silent tears. As the firebenders prepared to strike, Sokka caught a flash of white out of the corner of his eye, and prayed he was right about what it was. He pushed himself off of the airship and landed softly on Appa's back, just as his previous ride exploded on contact with yet another falling airship.

"You guys looked like you needed some help," Suki said with a smile as Katara helped pop her brother's arm back into its socket.

"That was pretty lucky, thanks." Toph responded as Sokka angrily rubbed his shoulder.

"Yeah, tell that to my leg… _AND_ my sword." Sokka complained. "Besides, it isn't over yet; there are still three more airships to take down." Katara groaned inwardly as she confirmed that three airships were still raining fire down on the Earth Kingdom.

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At the last second Zuko was able to throw himself onto the ground, lying flat as the fire soared a mere two inches above his face. He spun as soon as the blaze cleared him, kicking his legs outward and sending a wave of fire in all directions level with the ground, hoping it would distract his father long enough for Zuko to establish some footing. Ozai wasn't fazed by the attack, and simply jumped the flames as he closed the distance on his banished son. The Firelord lit his hand on fire and threw his entire weight into a punch aimed at Zuko, who was still turning toward him. The prince saw the attack at the last second, but only managed to block the initial impact. The resulting shockwave sent Zuko flying backward into one of the few rocks that was jutting out from the top of the pillar. The firebender was unconscious by the time he hit the ground. Ozai slowly approached his son's limp body with no remorse on his face at all.

"Time to finish what I started three years ago." He said, bringing his foot into the air to send a fiery kick to Zuko's neck.

"NOO!" Aang yelled from behind the Firelord, blasting him with as much air as the young Avatar could muster. Ozai was blown off of the column and forced to blast himself onto the nearest one to avoid falling to the ground.

"Looks like it's just you and me now, Avatar." Ozai smiled at Aang, who faced his opponent after checking to make sure Zuko was still alive.

"Stop this! I don't want to fight you!" Aang yelled out of both fear and anger.

"Of course you don't want to fight me! You're weak, just like the rest of your people. They didn't deserve to live in this world, in _my _world! It's time you joined them. Prepare to DIE!" Ozai yelled, sending fire in waves at Aang, who nimbly dodged, jumping from pillar to pillar and staying in a retreat mode.

_Stay alive. All you have to do is stay alive until this passes, _Aang thought as he blocked more and more flames. He was tiring out, and the Firelord showed no signs of wearing down. Aang decided to retreat back toward the ocean, where he had the advantage of another element on his side. Ozai followed, hurling six massive balls of fire at the monk in a speedy succession. Aang flew around them, able to avoid them by what could only be described as a complete miracle. Aang turned and sent a massive wave of water at the Firelord, which was promptly evaporated by a single fiery kick from Ozai.

Aang's hopes fell rapidly as he realized that all three of the other elements were next to useless in this fight, and his primary access to fire was currently unconscious and hundreds of yards away. Aang also figured that by the ocean he had less cover, and fewer columns to dive behind. As Ozai sent two massive streams of fire at him, Aang took off toward the initial fighting spot, only to be followed by the waves of fire and the man controlling them. Aang couldn't fly as well without his glider, so he was more than happy with himself when he was able to make it behind one of the columns as the flames crashed into the other side. Aang covered his head with his arms as fire rushed by on either side of him.

Without Zuko to fight fire with fire, Aang was in trouble… and Ozai knew it.

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"Toph, can you bend this into a turning position?" Katara asked as Toph and Suki stood with her next to the rudder of one of the three remaining airships. The blind girl spat on her hands before grabbing the massive metal steering device and pulling it back until it was angled forty-five degrees away from its starting position. The hatch opened on the far side of the airship, and Katara sprang at the opening. She released all of the water from her flask at the hole, freezing it shut as she did so.

"That won't last long, let's get out of here!" Suki yelled as she turned back toward Appa with Toph's hand. Katara nodded and ran with her as the firebender's blasted through her makeshift blockade. One of the soldiers jumped up and aimed at Katara, only to fly off the side of the ship when it lurched to its left. Suki had already boarded Appa with Toph, but Katara was just about to jump when the airship turned hard to its left.

The waterbender was sent flying off the side as well, and screamed as she began plummeting toward the ground hundreds of feet below. Appa took off with all the speed he possessed after the falling girl, surprising his passengers and forcing them to cling to the saddle for their lives. He got side to side with Katara, but the solid ground was fast approaching, and the sky bison needed to turn upward before he crashed as well. "Grab my hand!" Suki yelled, stretching out as far as she could toward the waterbender. Just as their fingers were interlocking, Appa was forced to pull up causing the girls to lose their grips. Suki's hand clutched at whatever she could, making contact with Katara's necklace and dislodging it from her neck. Appa managed to catch Katara on his way up and descended gradually, landing softly on the ground.

"Thanks Appa," Katara said as she climbed into the saddle with some help from Suki. "I owe you big time." They took back to the skies and began heading toward Aang and Zuko, looking back to make sure that all of the airships were down.

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Zuko's eyes opened slowly, with bright flashes of orange and red shooting across his vision every few seconds. The firebender forced himself awake as he noticed a pair of feet landing on the same pillar as him. A wave of fire engulfed the figure, and by the time the smoke had cleared, Zuko saw Aang holding himself up with his hands, breathing hard as the airbender tried to get up and keep fighting.

"Enough of this!" Ozai yelled from somewhere nearby. Zuko's vision was fuzzy, and his head spun as he tried to get up. "I'm done playing games, Avatar!" Zuko felt like his power was dwindling, and realized that the comet was beginning to exit the atmosphere. "You may have kept me from winning today, but you still lose." Zuko heard the crackling of lightning and shot up as Aang collapsed from exhaustion. The airbender was too tired to keep fighting, and from the looks of it, too injured to move.

Zuko's back erupted in pain as he got to his feet and thoughtlessly made his way in front of Aang. He turned to face his father just as the lightning shot forward, and despite his tired and beat-up state, Zuko managed to smirk as he caught the lightning and began to redirect it. Time slowed to a near stop as thousands of thoughts flew through Aang's mind. _Killing is wrong._ Zuko pointed back to his father as the lightning passed through his body, narrowly avoiding his heart. _There has to be another way to end this._ Ozai's eyes widened as he looked at what was sure to be the death of him. _No. No… _

"NOOO!" Aang screamed, lunging forward and blasting air at Zuko's back. The firebender tumbled forward as the lightning was released. Zuko fell off the pillar he was on as the lightning crashed into Ozai's, sending the Firelord flying forward as well. Zuko crashed into his father as they both plummeted toward the ground. They fought at close range to gain leverage on the other, but the closer they got to the ground the less Zuko was focused on fighting and the more he focused on slowing down. When they were just a couple dozen feet from the ground, Zuko turned to fire at it and hopefully hinder their descent. Ozai took advantage of the opportunity and forced Zuko underneath him, pulling his hands behind his back to prevent Zuko from saving himself. They crashed into the ground at full speed, Zuko barely managing to kick his legs forward to take the majority of the impact.

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Katara watched from Appa's back as Zuko caught Ozai's lightning and began to turn it back against the Firelord. Everything else happened in an instant, and she watched in horror as her fiancé plummeted toward the ground, crashing practically face first from a near three hundred foot fall. "Noooo!" She screamed, tears springing to her eyes as she prayed to every spirit she could think of to keep Zuko alive.

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Zuko had survived a lot of things in his life: losing half of his face, arrows to the head, crashing through buildings, his own ship exploding while he was still inside, and even living with Azula for most of his life. It was no surprise to him that adrenaline was keeping him not only alive, but partially conscious after falling from such a height onto solid rock. It wouldn't last long, he knew, but he was going to take advantage of his last moments. His father got to his feet, beat up and bloodied by the fall, but in far better condition than his son. "I should have killed you when I had the chance. I admit I'm impressed at how stubborn you are; a normal person would have laid down and died already." Zuko smiled up at his father as Ozai prepared to deliver the final blow.

He laughed slightly at the expression of pure fury on the Firelord's bloody face. "..u .o.."

"What?" Ozai screamed at Zuko's best attempt at last words. Fire ignited in the man's hand as Zuko talked louder, projecting his voice as well as his battered body would allow.

"I said: You. Lose." Ozai screamed in rage and brought his hand down to end his son's insolence once and for all.

His hand stopped as it reached the prince's neck, and the fire slowly died down as Ozai's eyes widened in pain. Zuko looked up and saw a large rock jutting up through the ground, into his father's back, and out through the man's stomach. The rock receded, and Ozai's lifeless body collapsed to the side, revealing a teary-eyed Avatar behind him. Aang quickly approached Zuko and did his best to ignore the amount of blood that was covering the firebender's chest. "I'm sorry. I-I'm so sorry!" He cried, as Appa landed behind him. Katara was at Zuko's side in less than a second, working immediately to heal whatever she could.

She spent about five minutes straight, not saying a word, working to keep Zuko alive. Tears began pouring down her cheeks as she tried in vain to stop the blood from leaving a massive cut on his chest. She was too tired, had too little energy to continue healing him, and tried her best to stop the bleeding by simply applying pressure. "Katara, stop." She turned to face Zuko, who smiled up at her. "It's ok."

She blinked a couple times as she tried to comprehend what he meant. He couldn't be giving up; Zuko never gave up. "No, it's not. I-I can stop it. I can save you!" She cried, knowing that she had no energy left, and that Zuko couldn't afford to lose any more blood. The firebender reached up and touched her face, smiling as he spoke.

"You already did." His hand fell from her face, and Katara ignored the blood it left behind as Zuko slowly faded out of consciousness.

If she could just stop the bleeding, she knew he could survive.

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"Hey, look at that. You're finally awake, welcome back Sparky."

Zuko blinked a couple times as his vision slowly came into focus. "Bad timing though, Sugar Queen is gonna be pissed. She's been sitting her for three days straight, and we just convinced her to get some sleep a few hours ago." Zuko turned his head to his left, seeing that Toph was sitting alone in one of three chairs. He was in a room, but that was about all he knew. There was a bed, but Zuko couldn't force himself to get up. Everything hurt, especially his chest. "We've all been pretty worried about you, but especially Katara and Aang. I think they were both blaming themselves for some reason."

Zuko was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that he was thirsty, _insanely _thirsty. Toph handed him some water as if she had read his mind. "The doctor said to give you this as soon as you woke up. She figured you'd be thirsty." Zuko drank the entire glass in less than two seconds, but his eyes widened when he tried to swallow. Apparently his throat was damaged, and he was a bit worried about how his voice would sound. "I'll go get your girlfriend and some food. I'll probably send Aang down here too."

Toph left the room and Zuko tried to get up. It hurt too badly for him to actually sit up, but he wanted to make sure he hadn't been paralyzed or anything. He made sure he could move his feet and both arms and sighed in relief when everything checked out. He sat in silence for a while, petrified to test his bending. He wasn't sure what he would do if he couldn't bend anymore. He finally worked up the courage to try it, and managed to create a small flame in his hand. At the same moment, Katara walked into the room and cautiously hugged him as tightly as she could without hurting him.

If Zuko was being honest, it still hurt like hell, but he was too happy to care about the pain he was in. "I was so worried, I'm so glad you're okay." Katara said, tears of joy making their way down her face. She finally broke away and watched as Zuko tried to sit up. "Don't do that, it might upset your injury." Katara said, causing Zuko to shoot her a confused look. "Your chest wouldn't stop bleeding and I was too exhausted to heal it. Sokka figured out the only way to stop the bleeding was to cauterize it…" Zuko's eyes widened as he realized this likely meant there was yet another burn scar for him live with. "Aang hadn't practiced making fire very much, so it was… rough. To say the least."

Zuko groaned causing Katara to laugh slightly. Zuko smiled at her, but his expression morphed into a look of confusion as he noticed that something was missing. Suki and Aang entered the room with food as Katara continued talking. "I was so worried, and I thought you were giving up. Don't ever- what are you looking at?" Katara blushed as she followed Zuko's gaze, wondering why it was just below her face. She realized he was staring at her neck after a few seconds, and her face grew slightly worried. "I lost it during the fight, I'm sorry." Zuko's face dropped and Katara realized he hadn't said anything since he had woken up. "I thought I healed your throat, can't you talk?" she asked, slightly afraid of the answer, or lack thereof.

"That necklace took me a month to make…" Zuko pouted, sounding almost exactly like Sokka when he was hungry. Suki, Aang, and Katara stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. Tears were in their eyes when Suki was finally able to control herself enough to speak.

"You're marrying this idiot. You know that right?" Katara smiled as she looked down at her 'idiot.'

"Yeah well," she started, looking down into Zuko's eyes. "I already said yes. There's no turning back now."

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**A/N: To be fair, I had planned out the end before I started this, and that was why I titled the fic as it is. You guys have no idea how badly I wanted to leave the last scene out until the sequel, so I could let you all think Zuko died. I guess I'm too nice for that.**

**The sequel will be intended to tie up all loose ends, including the end of the war, not just the defeat of Ozai, as well as answer some repeated questions about Mai and Ty Lee, what happened with Azula, etc. This chapter was long enough and now I have some material for the sequel on top of the heavy fluff.**

**Massive shout out to every single person who reviewed this fic along the way, you have no idea how much it means to get this much positive feedback on my first ever fic. Love you guys, and I hope you liked the finale, and that it lived up to whatever expectations you had! If you liked this, I encourage you to check out Meant to Live, which I'm warning you now, will be much much MUCH slower paced in terms of Zutara relationship than this fic. This was a bit too fast IMO, but I actually do like how this has ended up turning out!**

**I really hope you guys enjoyed this fanfic; it was fantastic to have such great reception for a first story! It's really cool to know that so many people like this, and I hope I will be able to continue writing and improving in the future!**

**THE END**

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**Sequel Notice**

**The sequel is finally up! Check it out via my profile or searching for it, it's called _Step By Step. _**

**Also, some shameless self advertising: If you liked this story, check out my other ones! _Picking Up The Pieces _and _Meant to Live _are Zutara, so read them if you wish! Thanks,**

**-Boredone32**


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